---
title: In a cartoon, a villain refuses to pay tax and the town gets new sch… — Taxes and the government's budget · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon, a villain refuses to pay tax and the town gets new schools anyway. What's wrong? Test 8 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 right.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/money/36-taxes-and-the-governments-budget/t8/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Money](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/money/) / [Taxes and the government's budget](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/money/36-taxes-and-the-governments-budget/) / t8

# Test 8 · Taxes and the government's budget

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon, a villain refuses to pay tax and the town gets new schools anyway. What's wrong?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** villain, town · **What happens:** refuse, not pay, get, be · **To what, where:** cartoon, tax, new schools

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 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/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon, a villain refuses to pay tax and the town gets new schools anyway.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:money:36-taxes-and-the-governments-budget:t8:1
# text = In a cartoon, a villain refuses to pay tax and the town gets new schools anyway.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	villain	villain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	refuses	refuse	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	pay	pay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	tax	tax	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
14	gets	get	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
15	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	schools	school	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obj	_	_
17	anyway	anyway	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **refuse** | present | a villain |  |  | a cartoon |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **pay** | to-infinitive | a villain *not said here* | tax |  |  |  |  | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tax=Asset |
| 3 | **get** | present | the town | new schools |  |  |  | anyway *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer school=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's wrong?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:money:36-taxes-and-the-governments-budget:t8:2
# text = What's wrong?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Schools are paid by fines on cartoons

```conllu
# sent_id = question:money:36-taxes-and-the-governments-budget:t8:o1:1
# text = Schools are paid by fines on cartoons
1	Schools	school	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	paid	pay	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	fines	fine	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	cartoons	cartoon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pay** | present · passive | fines | Schools |  | cartoons |  |  | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Asset |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, schools appear without any money

```conllu
# sent_id = question:money:36-taxes-and-the-governments-budget:t8:o2:1
# text = Nothing, schools appear without any money
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	3	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	schools	school	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	appear	appear	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	without	without	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	7	det	_	_
7	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **appear** | present | Nothing schools |  |  |  |  | without any money | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Villains pay all the taxes in real towns

```conllu
# sent_id = question:money:36-taxes-and-the-governments-budget:t8:o3:1
# text = Villains pay all the taxes in real towns
1	Villains	villain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	pay	pay	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	5	det:predet	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	taxes	tax	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	towns	town	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pay** | present | Villains | all taxes |  | real towns |  |  | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tax=Asset |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Taxes pay for schools; if people don't pay, there's less money for them

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:money:36-taxes-and-the-governments-budget:t8:o4:1
# text = Taxes pay for schools; if people don't pay, there's less money for them
1	Taxes	tax	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	pay	pay	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	for	for	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	schools	school	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	2	punct	_	_
6	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
7	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
8	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	pay	pay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
12	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	13	expl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	's	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
14	less	less	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	15	amod	_	_
15	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
16	for	for	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pay** | present | Taxes |  |  |  |  | for schools | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent for school=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **pay** *a condition, not said to happen* | present · do-support | people |  |  |  |  |  | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **be** | present | less money for people |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Taxes and the government's budget, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/money/36-taxes-and-the-governments-budget/t7/)
- next →: [Taxes and the government's budget, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/money/36-taxes-and-the-governments-budget/t9/)
- ↑ back to [Taxes and the government's budget](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/money/36-taxes-and-the-governments-budget/)