---
title: A neighbour moans, "Took 'em 2 years to fix that pothole, proper use… — Taxes and the government's budget · tree and pragmatics
description: A neighbour moans, "Took 'em 2 years to fix that pothole, proper useless." What might explain it? Test 3 of lesson 36 «Taxes and the government's budget» of the money 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 3 · Taxes and the government's budget

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A neighbour moans, "Took 'em 2 years to fix that pothole, proper useless." What might explain it?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** neighbour · **What happens:** moan, take, fix, explain · **To what, where:** 'em, pothole

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 of lesson 36 «Taxes and the government's budget» of the money 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/money/36-taxes-and-the-governments-budget/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A neighbour moans, "Took 'em 2 years to fix that pothole, proper useless."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:money:36-taxes-and-the-governments-budget:t3:1
# text = A neighbour moans, "Took 'em 2 years to fix that pothole, proper useless."
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	neighbour	neighbour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	moans	moan	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Took	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
7	'em	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	2	2	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	fix	fix	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	advcl	_	_
12	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	13	det	_	_
13	pothole	pothole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	proper	proper	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	useless	useless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **moan** | present | a neighbour |  |  |  |  |  | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **take** *in a quote* | participle | a neighbour *not said here* | 'em *= they* |  |  | year |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |
| 3 | **fix** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | a neighbour *not said here* | that pothole |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent pothole=Patient |

<!-- .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 might explain it?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:money:36-taxes-and-the-governments-budget:t3:2
# text = What might explain it?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	obj	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	explain	explain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **explain** *speech: assert* | might |  | pothole |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Councils are not allowed to fix roads at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:money:36-taxes-and-the-governments-budget:t3:o1:1
# text = Councils are not allowed to fix roads at all
1	Councils	council	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	allowed	allow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	fix	fix	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	roads	road	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **allow** | present · passive |  | Councils |  |  |  |  | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP S»: subject=Beneficiary clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **fix** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Councils *not said here* | roads |  | all |  |  | vn price-54.4 «NP V NP PP.value»: agent=Agent road=Theme at all=Value |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pothole was protected by a special law for two whole years, so it stayed

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:money:36-taxes-and-the-governments-budget:t3:o2:1
# text = The pothole was protected by a special law for two whole years, so it stayed
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pothole	pothole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	protected	protect	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	special	special	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	nummod	_	_
11	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
14	so	so	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	stayed	stay	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **protect** | past · passive | a special law | the pothole |  |  | year |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Beneficiary |
| 2 | **stay** | past | pothole |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Councils have limited money and have to choose which roads come first

```conllu
# sent_id = question:money:36-taxes-and-the-governments-budget:t3:o3:1
# text = Councils have limited money and have to choose which roads come first
1	Councils	council	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	limited	limit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	amod	_	_
4	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	choose	choose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	10	det	_	_
10	roads	road	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
11	come	come	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	ccomp	_	_
12	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	11	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Councils | limited money |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent money=Patient |
| 2 | **limit** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn limit-76 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer |
| 3 | **have** | present | Councils *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **choose** | to-infinitive | Councils *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **come** | present | which roads |  |  |  |  | first *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Potholes are fixed only by volunteers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:money:36-taxes-and-the-governments-budget:t3:o4:1
# text = Potholes are fixed only by volunteers
1	Potholes	pothole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	fixed	fix	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	volunteers	volunteer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fix** | present · passive |  | Potholes |  |  |  |  | vn preparing-26.3-1 «NP V NP.beneficiary NP»: subject=Beneficiary volunteer=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.

<!-- /div -->

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