---
title: Why does "Roman glass hasn't sagged in 2,000 years" beat the drippin… — Water, deserts and the shape of the land · tree and pragmatics
description: Why does "Roman glass hasn't sagged in 2,000 years" beat the dripping-window story? Test 7 · ★ of lesson 16 «Water, deserts and the shape of the land» 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 7 · ★ · Water, deserts and the shape of the land

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why does "Roman glass hasn't sagged in 2,000 years" beat the dripping-window story?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** sagged 2,000 years · **What happens:** not sag in, beat · **To what, where:** Roman glass, window story

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★ of lesson 16 «Water, deserts and the shape of the land» 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/16-water-deserts-and-the-shape-of-the-land/#t7).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:16-water-deserts-and-the-shape-of-the-land:t7:1
# text = Why does "Roman glass hasn't sagged in 2,000 years" beat the dripping-window story?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	Roman	roman	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	glass	glass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	sagged	sag	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	amod	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	RP	_	8	compound:prt	_	_
10	2,000	2000	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	11	nummod	_	_
11	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
13	beat	beat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
15	dripping	dripping	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	window	window	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	compound	_	_
18	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **sag in** *in a quote* | present · perfect · passive · do-support |  | Roman glass |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **beat** | present | sagged 2,000 years | the window story |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location story=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
If glass flowed, very old glass would have sagged far more

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:16-water-deserts-and-the-shape-of-the-land:t7:o1:1
# text = If glass flowed, very old glass would have sagged far more
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	glass	glass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	flowed	flow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	very	very	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	glass	glass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	aux	_	_
10	sagged	sag	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
11	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	12	advmod	_	_
12	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	10	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **flow** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | glass |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **sag** | would · perfect · passive |  | old glass |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Romans used special glass that cannot melt

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:16-water-deserts-and-the-shape-of-the-land:t7:o2:1
# text = Romans used special glass that cannot melt
1	Romans	Roman	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	special	special	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	glass	glass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obj	_	_
6	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	melt	melt	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | past | Romans | special glass |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent glass=Patient |
| 2 | **not** **melt** | can |  | special glass |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Patient that=Result |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Glass only drips in churches

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:16-water-deserts-and-the-shape-of-the-land:t7:o3:1
# text = Glass only drips in churches
1	Glass	glass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	drips	drip	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	churches	church	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drip** | present | Glass |  |  | churches |  |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Source |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Roman glass was always kept in the fridge

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:16-water-deserts-and-the-shape-of-the-land:t7:o4:1
# text = Roman glass was always kept in the fridge
1	Roman	roman	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	glass	glass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	5	advmod	_	_
5	kept	keep	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	fridge	fridge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | past · passive |  | Roman glass |  | the fridge |  | always *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Theme in fridge=Location |

<!-- 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 -->

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