---
title: Your little sister bends a plastic ruler until it snaps and her hand… — Earthquakes · tree and pragmatics
description: Your little sister bends a plastic ruler until it snaps and her hands jump. How is this like an earthquake? Test 10 of lesson 44 «Earthquakes» 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 10 · Earthquakes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your little sister bends a plastic ruler until it snaps and her hands jump. How is this like an earthquake?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** little sister, ruler, hands, this · **What happens:** bend, snap, jump, be · **To what, where:** plastic ruler

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 of lesson 44 «Earthquakes» 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/44-earthquakes/#t10).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your little sister bends a plastic ruler until it snaps and her hands jump.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:44-earthquakes:t10:1
# text = Your little sister bends a plastic ruler until it snaps and her hands jump.
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	sister	sister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	bends	bend	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	plastic	plastic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	ruler	ruler	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	snaps	snap	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
12	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
14	jump	jump	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bend** | present | Your little sister | a plastic ruler |  |  |  |  | vn knead-26.5 «NP V NP.material»: agent=Agent ruler=Material |
| 2 | **snap** | present | ruler |  |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **jump** | present | sister's hands |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* How is this like an earthquake?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:44-earthquakes:t10:2
# text = How is this like an earthquake?
1	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	1	nsubj	_	_
4	like	like	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	earthquake	earthquake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | this |  |  |  |  | how *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ruler shows how lava squeezes out of a volcano

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:44-earthquakes:t10:o1:1
# text = The ruler shows how lava squeezes out of a volcano
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ruler	ruler	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
5	lava	lava	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	squeezes	squeeze	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
7	out	out	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	volcano	volcano	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | the ruler |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **squeeze out** | present | lava | a volcano |  |  |  |  | vn push-12-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent volcano=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It shows how the Moon pulls the plates up and down

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:44-earthquakes:t10:o2:1
# text = It shows how the Moon pulls the plates up and down
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Moon	Moon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	pulls	pull	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	plates	plate	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
9	up	up	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	down	down	ADV	RB	_	9	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **pull** | present | the Moon | the plates |  |  |  |  | vn push-12-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent plate=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It isn't like an earthquake at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:44-earthquakes:t10:o3:1
# text = It isn't like an earthquake at all
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
4	like	like	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	earthquake	earthquake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | present | It |  |  | all |  | like a earthquake | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Strain builds up slowly, then is released all at once

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:44-earthquakes:t10:o4:1
# text = Strain builds up slowly, then is released all at once
1	Strain	strain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	builds	build	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	up	up	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	8	advmod	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	released	release	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	parataxis	_	_
9	all	all	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
10	at	at	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **build up** | present | Strain |  |  |  |  | slowly *property* | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **release** | present · passive |  |  |  |  | then | all *property* | vn free-10.6.3-1 «NP V NP S\_ING» |

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**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.

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