---
title: Mrs Brown says sailors feared falling off the flat Earth. How could… — Explorers, scientists and inventors · tree and pragmatics
description: Mrs Brown says sailors feared falling off the flat Earth. How could you raise it politely? Test 2 · ★ of lesson 20 «Explorers, scientists and inventors» 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 right.
---

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# Test 2 · ★ · Explorers, scientists and inventors

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mrs Brown says sailors feared falling off the flat Earth. How could you raise it politely?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Mrs, sailors, you · **What happens:** say, fear, fall off, raise · **To what, where:** flat Earth, Earth · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★ of lesson 20 «Explorers, scientists and inventors» 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/20-explorers-scientists-and-inventors/#t2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Mrs Brown says sailors feared falling off the flat Earth.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:20-explorers-scientists-and-inventors:t2:1
# text = Mrs Brown says sailors feared falling off the flat Earth.
1	Mrs	Mrs	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	Brown	Brown	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	sailors	sailor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	feared	fear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
6	falling	fall	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	xcomp	_	_
7	off	off	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	flat	flat	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Mrs |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **fear** | past | sailors |  |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 3 | **fall off** | gerund | sailors *not said here* | the flat Earth |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.patient V NP.extent PP.source PP.goal»: agent=Patient earth=Extent |

<!-- .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:* How could you raise it politely?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:20-explorers-scientists-and-inventors:t2:2
# text = How could you raise it politely?
1	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	raise	raise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	politely	politely	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **raise** | could | you | Earth |  |  |  | politely *property* | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"Miss, the flat Earth is true, my cousin said so"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:20-explorers-scientists-and-inventors:t2:o1:1
# text = "Miss, the flat Earth is true, my cousin said so"
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Miss	Miss	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	flat	flat	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	Earth	Earth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	cousin	cousin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
13	so	so	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | present | the flat Earth |  |  |  |  | true *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | past | Miss |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Say nothing, because teachers can never be wrong about anything at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:20-explorers-scientists-and-inventors:t2:o2:1
# text = Say nothing, because teachers can never be wrong about anything at all
1	Say	say	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
4	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
5	teachers	teacher	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
6	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
7	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
8	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	cop	_	_
9	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	parataxis	_	_
10	about	about	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	9	obl	_	_
12	at	at	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	11	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | imperative | you *not said here* | nothing |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent nothing=Topic |
| 2 | **not** **is** | can | teachers |  |  |  |  | about anything; wrong *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"Miss, that's totally wrong, everyone knows that"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:20-explorers-scientists-and-inventors:t2:o3:1
# text = "Miss, that's totally wrong, everyone knows that"
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Miss	Miss	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	totally	totally	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
9	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	10	nsubj	_	_
10	knows	know	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | present | that |  |  |  |  | totally, wrong *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **know** *in a quote* | present | Miss | that |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer that=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"Miss, I read people knew it was round; they argued about its size"

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:20-explorers-scientists-and-inventors:t2:o4:1
# text = "Miss, I read people knew it was round; they argued about its size"
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Miss	Miss	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
4	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	read	read	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
6	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
10	round	round	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	13	punct	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	argued	argue	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
14	about	about	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **read** *in a quote* | present | I | Miss *not said here* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **know** *in a quote* | past | people |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **is** *in a quote* | past | it |  |  |  |  | round *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **argue** *speech: disagree* *in a quote* | past | Miss |  |  |  |  | about its size | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V PP.theme S»: agent=Agent about size=Topic |

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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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