---
title: Why were canals cheaper than roads for moving heavy coal? — Canals: Suez, Panama and the shortcuts · tree and pragmatics
description: Why were canals cheaper than roads for moving heavy coal? Test 6 · ★★★ of lesson 20 «Canals: Suez, Panama and the shortcuts» of the geography course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 6 · ★★★ · Canals: Suez, Panama and the shortcuts

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why were canals cheaper than roads for moving heavy coal?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** canals · **What happens:** be, move · **To what, where:** heavy coal

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★★★ of lesson 20 «Canals: Suez, Panama and the shortcuts» of the geography course of Mova's primary school. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/geography/20-canals-suez-panama-and-the-shortcuts/#t6).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:20-canals-suez-panama-and-the-shortcuts:t6:1
# text = Why were canals cheaper than roads for moving heavy coal?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	canals	canal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	cheaper	cheap	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
5	than	than	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	roads	road	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
7	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
8	moving	move	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
9	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	coal	coal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | canals |  |  |  |  | than roads; cheap *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **move** | gerund | canals *not said here* | heavy coal |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent coal=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Coal floats by itself, so it could simply be pushed along the water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:20-canals-suez-panama-and-the-shortcuts:t6:o1:1
# text = Coal floats by itself, so it could simply be pushed along the water
1	Coal	coal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	floats	float	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	by	by	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
9	simply	simply	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
10	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	pushed	push	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	advcl	_	_
12	along	along	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **float** | present | Coal |  |  |  |  | by Coal | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme by itself=Trajectory |
| 2 | **push** | could · passive |  | Coal |  | the water |  | simply *property* | vn funnel-9.3-1-1 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: subject=Theme along water=Trajectory |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Boats need nobody to steer them, so no wages had to be paid to boatmen

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:20-canals-suez-panama-and-the-shortcuts:t6:o2:1
# text = Boats need nobody to steer them, so no wages had to be paid to boatmen
1	Boats	boat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	steer	steer	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	acl	_	_
6	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
9	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	10	det	_	_
10	wages	wage	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
11	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
13	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	aux:pass	_	_
14	paid	pay	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	xcomp	_	_
15	to	to	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	boatmen	boatman	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | Boats | nobody |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot nobody=Theme |
| 2 | **steer** | to-infinitive | Boats *not said here* | Boats *= boat* |  |  |  |  | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |
| 3 | **have** | past | no wages |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **pay** | to-infinitive · passive | no wages *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to boatmen | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP» |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Roads were all toll roads, and canals were always free to use for everyone

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:20-canals-suez-panama-and-the-shortcuts:t6:o3:1
# text = Roads were all toll roads, and canals were always free to use for everyone
1	Roads	road	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	det	_	_
4	toll	toll	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	roads	road	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
8	canals	canal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
9	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
10	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	11	advmod	_	_
11	free	free	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	parataxis	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	use	use	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	advcl	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | Roads | all toll roads |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | past | canals |  |  |  |  | always, free *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **use** | to-infinitive | canals *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for everyone | vn eat-39.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A horse could pull a much heavier load on a floating boat than on a cart

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:20-canals-suez-panama-and-the-shortcuts:t6:o4:1
# text = A horse could pull a much heavier load on a floating boat than on a cart
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	pull	pull	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	much	much	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	heavier	heavy	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	8	amod	_	_
8	load	load	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
9	on	on	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	floating	float	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	12	amod	_	_
12	boat	boat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
13	than	than	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	on	on	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	cart	cart	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pull** | could | a horse | a heavier load |  | a floating boat |  | than a cart | vn push-12-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent load=Theme |
| 2 | **float** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- div src -->

**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Canals: Suez, Panama and the shortcuts, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/20-canals-suez-panama-and-the-shortcuts/t5/)
- next →: [Canals: Suez, Panama and the shortcuts, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/20-canals-suez-panama-and-the-shortcuts/t7/)
- ↑ back to [Canals: Suez, Panama and the shortcuts](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/20-canals-suez-panama-and-the-shortcuts/)