---
title: Your mate: "I've balanced an egg like a billion times on the equinox… — Olympiad: how could you check it? ★★★ · tree and pragmatics
description: Your mate: "I've balanced an egg like a billion times on the equinox, so it ONLY works then." What's the hole in his proof? Test 3 · ★★★ of lesson 37 «Olympiad: how could you check it? ★★★» of the myths course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of e
---

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# Test 3 · ★★★ · Olympiad: how could you check it? ★★★

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your mate: "I've balanced an egg like a billion times on the equinox, so it ONLY works then." What's the hole in his proof?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** mate, hole, his · **What happens:** balance, work, be, proof · **To what, where:** egg

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★★★ of lesson 37 «Olympiad: how could you check it? ★★★» 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/37-olympiad-how-could-you-check-it/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your mate: "I've balanced an egg like a billion times on the equinox, so it ONLY works then."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:37-olympiad-how-could-you-check-it:t3:1
# text = Your mate: "I've balanced an egg like a billion times on the equinox, so it ONLY works then."
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	've	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	balanced	balance	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
8	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	egg	egg	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	like	like	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	billion	billion	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	13	nummod	_	_
13	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
14	on	on	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	equinox	equinox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
18	so	so	ADV	RB	_	21	advmod	_	_
19	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
20	ONLY	only	ADV	RB	_	21	advmod	_	_
21	works	work	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
22	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	21	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **balance** *in a quote* | present · perfect | Your mate | a egg |  |  | time |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location egg=Theme |
| 2 | **work** *in a quote* | present | mate |  |  |  | then |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 the hole in his proof?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:37-olympiad-how-could-you-check-it:t3:2
# text = What's the hole in his proof?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	hole	hole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	proof	proof	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the hole in his proof |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **proof** |  | his *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom proof «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A billion tries is still not quite enough

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:37-olympiad-how-could-you-check-it:t3:o1:1
# text = A billion tries is still not quite enough
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	billion	billion	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	tries	try	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	still	still	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
6	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	quite	quite	ADV	RB	_	3	acl:relcl	_	_
8	enough	enough	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | present | a billion tries *not said here* |  |  |  | still | enough, quite *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Eggs really do stand only on the equinox

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:37-olympiad-how-could-you-check-it:t3:o2:1
# text = Eggs really do stand only on the equinox
1	Eggs	egg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	really	really	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
3	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	stand	stand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	equinox	equinox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand** | present · do-support | Eggs |  |  | the equinox |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent on equinox=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He should have used hard-boiled eggs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:37-olympiad-how-could-you-check-it:t3:o3:1
# text = He should have used hard-boiled eggs
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	aux	_	_
4	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	hard	hard	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	boiled	boil	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
8	eggs	egg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | should · perfect | He | boiled eggs |  |  |  | hard *property* | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent egg=Patient |
| 2 | **boil** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn cooking-45.3 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He never tried on any other day

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:37-olympiad-how-could-you-check-it:t3:o4:1
# text = He never tried on any other day
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	7	det	_	_
6	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **try** | past | He |  |  |  | day |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |

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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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