---
title: Why is it a bad idea to stand on a hilltop or under a lone tall tree… — Static electricity: balloons, hair and… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is it a bad idea to stand on a hilltop or under a lone tall tree in a thunderstorm? Test 10 of lesson 26 «Static electricity: balloons, hair and sparks» 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 was r
---

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# Test 10 · Static electricity: balloons, hair and sparks

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is it a bad idea to stand on a hilltop or under a lone tall tree in a thunderstorm?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **What happens:** be, stand · **To what, where:** bad idea, hilltop

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This is test 10 of lesson 26 «Static electricity: balloons, hair and sparks» 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/26-static-electricity-balloons-hair-and-sparks/#t10).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:26-static-electricity-balloons-hair-and-sparks:t10:1
# text = Why is it a bad idea to stand on a hilltop or under a lone tall tree in a thunderstorm?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	expl	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	idea	idea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	stand	stand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	acl	_	_
9	on	on	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	hilltop	hilltop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
12	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
13	under	under	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
15	lone	lone	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
16	tall	tall	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	thunderstorm	thunderstorm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | a bad idea |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **stand** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | a hilltop or a lone tall tree |  | in a thunderstorm | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent on hilltop=Location |

<!-- .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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lightning tends to strike tall, high things

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:26-static-electricity-balloons-hair-and-sparks:t10:o1:1
# text = Lightning tends to strike tall, high things
1	Lightning	lightning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	tends	tend	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	strike	strike	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	tall	tall	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
7	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tend** | present | Lightning |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **strike** | to-infinitive | Lightning *not said here* | tall high things |  |  |  |  | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thing=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Wind is stronger under trees

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:26-static-electricity-balloons-hair-and-sparks:t10:o2:1
# text = Wind is stronger under trees
1	Wind	wind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	stronger	strong	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
4	under	under	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Wind |  |  | trees |  | strong *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Hills attract hail only, and hail can be deadly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:26-static-electricity-balloons-hair-and-sparks:t10:o3:1
# text = Hills attract hail only, and hail can be deadly
1	Hills	hill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	attract	attract	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	hail	hail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
7	hail	hail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
8	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	cop	_	_
10	deadly	deadly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **attract** | present | Hills | hail |  |  |  |  | vn lure-59.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hail=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | can | hail |  |  |  |  | deadly *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Trees catch fire from rain

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:26-static-electricity-balloons-hair-and-sparks:t10:o4:1
# text = Trees catch fire from rain
1	Trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	catch	catch	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **catch** | present | Trees | fire |  | rain |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent fire=Theme from rain=Source |

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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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