---
title: You poke holes in a paper cup of water and drop it. The water stops… — Earth from space · tree and pragmatics
description: You poke holes in a paper cup of water and drop it. The water stops pouring while it falls. What does this show? Test 3 · ★★ of lesson 13 «Earth from space» of the myths course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wro
---

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# Test 3 · ★★ · Earth from space

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
You poke holes in a paper cup of water and drop it. The water stops pouring while it falls. What does this show?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** You, water, this · **What happens:** poke, drop, stop, pour, fall, show · **To what, where:** holes, paper cup, water

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★★ of lesson 13 «Earth from space» of the myths 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/myths/13-earth-from-space/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* You poke holes in a paper cup of water and drop it.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:13-earth-from-space:t3:1
# text = You poke holes in a paper cup of water and drop it.
1	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	poke	poke	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	holes	hole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	paper	paper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	cup	cup	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	drop	drop	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **poke** | present | You | holes |  | a paper cup of water |  |  | vn poke-19-1-1-1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent hole=Theme |
| 2 | **drop** | present | You *not said here* | water |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=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:* The water stops pouring while it falls.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:13-earth-from-space:t3:2
# text = The water stops pouring while it falls.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	stops	stop	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	pouring	pour	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	xcomp	_	_
5	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	falls	fall	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stop** | present | the water |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **pour** | gerund | the water *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Source |
| 3 | **fall** | present | water |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What does this show?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:13-earth-from-space:t3:3
# text = What does this show?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
4	show	show	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present · do-support | this |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent what=Recipient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The holes in the cup close up tight when they fall

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:13-earth-from-space:t3:o1:1
# text = The holes in the cup close up tight when they fall
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	holes	hole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	cup	cup	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	close	close	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	up	up	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
8	tight	tight	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
9	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	11	mark	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	fall	fall	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **close up** | infinitive | the holes in the cup |  |  |  |  | tight *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **fall** | present | holes *= hole* |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Water is lighter than air

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:13-earth-from-space:t3:o2:1
# text = Water is lighter than air
1	Water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	lighter	light	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
4	than	than	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Falling things feel weightless, like astronauts

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:13-earth-from-space:t3:o3:1
# text = Falling things feel weightless, like astronauts
1	Falling	fall	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	amod	_	_
2	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	feel	feel	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	weightless	weightless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	like	like	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	astronauts	astronaut	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fall** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **feel** | present | Falling things |  |  |  |  | like astronauts; weightless *property* | vn conjecture-29.5-2 «NP V S»: agent=Agent like astronaut=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Gravity switches off for cups

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:13-earth-from-space:t3:o4:1
# text = Gravity switches off for cups
1	Gravity	gravity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	switches	switch	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	off	off	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	cups	cup	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **switch off** | present | Gravity |  |  |  |  | for cups | vn substitute-13.6.2 «NP V PP.co-theme»: agent=Theme for cup=Co-Theme |

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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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