---
title: In a cartoon, a cannonball smashes the floor while a feather drifts… — Let's test it! Experiments and fair te… · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon, a cannonball smashes the floor while a feather drifts down, and a robot says gravity pulls the cannonball harder. What should he say instead? Test 8 · ★★ of lesson 29 «Let's test it! Experiments and fair tests» of the myths course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and 
---

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# Test 8 · ★★ · Let's test it! Experiments and fair tests

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon, a cannonball smashes the floor while a feather drifts down, and a robot says gravity pulls the cannonball harder. What should he say instead?

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**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** cannonball, feather, robot, gravity · **What happens:** smash, drift down, say, pull · **To what, where:** floor, cartoon, cannonball · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★ of lesson 29 «Let's test it! Experiments and fair tests» 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/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon, a cannonball smashes the floor while a feather drifts down, and a robot says gravity pulls the cannonball harder.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests:t8:1
# text = In a cartoon, a cannonball smashes the floor while a feather drifts down, and a robot says gravity pulls the cannonball harder.
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	cannonball	cannonball	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	smashes	smash	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	floor	floor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	feather	feather	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	drifts	drift	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
14	down	down	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	robot	robot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nsubj	_	_
19	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
20	gravity	gravity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nsubj	_	_
21	pulls	pull	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	ccomp	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	cannonball	cannonball	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obj	_	_
24	harder	hard	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	21	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **smash** | present | a cannonball | the floor |  | a cartoon |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent floor=Theme in cartoon=Destination |
| 2 | **drift down** | present | a feather |  |  |  |  | down *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a robot |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **pull** | present | gravity | the cannonball |  |  |  | hard *property* | vn push-12-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cannonball=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:* What should he say instead?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests:t8:2
# text = What should he say instead?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	instead	instead	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | should | gravity |  |  |  |  | instead *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Air slows the feather; without air they'd fall together

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests:t8:o1:1
# text = Air slows the feather; without air they'd fall together
1	Air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	slows	slow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	feather	feather	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
6	without	without	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	'd	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	fall	fall	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	parataxis	_	_
11	together	together	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **slow** | present | Air | the feather |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent feather=Patient |
| 2 | **fall together** | would | they |  |  |  |  | without air; together *property* | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The feather is too clever to fall

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests:t8:o2:1
# text = The feather is too clever to fall
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	feather	feather	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	too	too	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	fall	fall	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the feather |  |  |  |  | clever *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **fall** | to-infinitive | the feather *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cannonballs have their own gravity

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests:t8:o3:1
# text = Cannonballs have their own gravity
1	Cannonballs	cannonball	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
4	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	gravity	gravity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Cannonballs | Cannonballs's own gravity |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent gravity=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He's right, heavy things are always pulled down much faster

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests:t8:o4:1
# text = He's right, heavy things are always pulled down much faster
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
5	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
8	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	9	advmod	_	_
9	pulled	pull	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	parataxis	_	_
10	down	down	ADP	RP	_	9	compound:prt	_	_
11	much	much	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	faster	fast	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	9	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **pull down** | present · passive |  | heavy things |  |  |  | always, fast *property* | vn push-12-1 «NP V NP»: subject=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.

<!-- /div -->

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