---
title: A sheet of paper is laid flat on top of a big book, and both are dro… — Why things fall: the apple and the pul… · tree and pragmatics
description: A sheet of paper is laid flat on top of a big book, and both are dropped. What happens? Test 3 of lesson 1 «Why things fall: the apple and the pull of the Earth» of the physics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice 
---

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# Test 3 · Why things fall: the apple and the pull of the Earth

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A sheet of paper is laid flat on top of a big book, and both are dropped. What happens?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **What happens:** lay, drop, happen · **To what, where:** sheet, top, both

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 of lesson 1 «Why things fall: the apple and the pull of the Earth» of the physics 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/physics/1-why-things-fall/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A sheet of paper is laid flat on top of a big book, and both are dropped.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:1-why-things-fall:t3:1
# text = A sheet of paper is laid flat on top of a big book, and both are dropped.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sheet	sheet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	paper	paper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	laid	lay	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	flat	flat	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
8	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	top	top	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
16	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	18	nsubj:pass	_	_
17	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux:pass	_	_
18	dropped	drop	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lay** | present · passive |  | a sheet of paper |  | top of a big book |  | flat *property* | vn put\_spatial-9.2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme on top=Destination |
| 2 | **drop** | present · passive |  | both |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: subject=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 happens?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:1-why-things-fall:t3:2
# text = What happens?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	nsubj	_	_
2	happens	happen	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The book stops and the paper goes on

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:1-why-things-fall:t3:o1:1
# text = The book stops and the paper goes on
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	stops	stop	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	paper	paper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	goes	go	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
8	on	on	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stop** | present | the book |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 2 | **go on** | present | the paper |  |  |  |  |  | vn function-105.2.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The paper lands first

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:1-why-things-fall:t3:o2:1
# text = The paper lands first
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	paper	paper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	lands	land	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **land** | present | the paper |  |  |  |  | first *property* | vn pocket-9.10-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The paper falls with the book, shielded from the air

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:1-why-things-fall:t3:o3:1
# text = The paper falls with the book, shielded from the air
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	paper	paper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	falls	fall	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	shielded	shield	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl	_	_
9	from	from	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fall** | present | the paper |  |  |  |  | with the book | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **shield** | participle |  | the book *not said here* |  | the air |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The paper flies off and flutters

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:1-why-things-fall:t3:o4:1
# text = The paper flies off and flutters
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	paper	paper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	flies	fly	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	off	off	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	flutters	flutter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fly off** | present | the paper |  |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=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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- ← previous: [Why things fall: the apple and the pul…, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/1-why-things-fall/t2/)
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