---
title: A cartoon shows Leo shrinking to a skeleton because he missed one sn… — Starving, a million times and a ton: e… · tree and pragmatics
description: A cartoon shows Leo shrinking to a skeleton because he missed one snack. What is wrong with it? Test 4 of lesson 44 «Starving, a million times and a ton: everyday hyperbole» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; M
---

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# Test 4 · Starving, a million times and a ton: everyday hyperbole

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A cartoon shows Leo shrinking to a skeleton because he missed one snack. What is wrong with it?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** cartoon · **What happens:** show, shrink, miss, be · **To what, where:** Leo, one snack

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 of lesson 44 «Starving, a million times and a ton: everyday hyperbole» of the language 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/language/44-starving-a-million-times-and-a-ton-everyday-hyperbole/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A cartoon shows Leo shrinking to a skeleton because he missed one snack.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:44-starving-a-million-times-and-a-ton-everyday-hyperbole:t4:1
# text = A cartoon shows Leo shrinking to a skeleton because he missed one snack.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	Leo	Leo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	iobj	_	_
5	shrinking	shrink	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	skeleton	skeleton	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	missed	miss	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
12	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	13	nummod	_	_
13	snack	snack	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | a cartoon |  | Leo |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent leo=Recipient |
| 2 | **shrink** | gerund | a cartoon *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to a skeleton *result* | vn bend-45.2 «NP V NP PP.result»: agent=Agent to skeleton=Result |
| 3 | **miss** | past | cartoon | one snack |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer snack=Stimulus |

<!-- .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:* What is wrong with it?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:44-starving-a-million-times-and-a-ton-everyday-hyperbole:t4:2
# text = What is wrong with it?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, because cartoons are always true

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:44-starving-a-million-times-and-a-ton-everyday-hyperbole:t4:o1:1
# text = Nothing, because cartoons are always true
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
3	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	cartoons	cartoon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
5	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	7	advmod	_	_
7	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	conj	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, that is what starving after lunch means

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:44-starving-a-million-times-and-a-ton-everyday-hyperbole:t4:o2:1
# text = Nothing, that is what starving after lunch means
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
6	starving	starve	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	csubj	_	_
7	after	after	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	lunch	lunch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
9	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Nothing |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **starve** | gerund |  |  |  |  | after lunch |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **mean** | present | starving |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He should have grown into a mountain instead

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:44-starving-a-million-times-and-a-ton-everyday-hyperbole:t4:o3:1
# text = He should have grown into a mountain instead
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	aux	_	_
4	grown	grow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	into	into	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	mountain	mountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	instead	instead	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | should · perfect | He |  |  |  |  | into a mountain *result*; instead *property* | vn become-109.1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient into mountain=Result |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Missing a snack makes you hungry, not a skeleton

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:44-starving-a-million-times-and-a-ton-everyday-hyperbole:t4:o4:1
# text = Missing a snack makes you hungry, not a skeleton
1	Missing	miss	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	csubj	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	snack	snack	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	hungry	hungry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	skeleton	skeleton	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **miss** | gerund |  | a snack |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer snack=Stimulus |
| 2 | **make** | present | Missing | you |  |  |  | hungry *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset you=Product |

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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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