---
title: In a cartoon, sailors use a compass made of a wooden stick. What's w… — Compasses and the magnetic Earth · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon, sailors use a compass made of a wooden stick. What's wrong? Test 3 · ★ of lesson 30 «Compasses and the magnetic 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 was wrong.
---

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# Test 3 · ★ · Compasses and the magnetic Earth

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon, sailors use a compass made of a wooden stick. What's wrong?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** sailors · **What happens:** use, make, be · **To what, where:** compass, cartoon

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★ of lesson 30 «Compasses and the magnetic 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/30-compasses-and-the-magnetic-earth/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon, sailors use a compass made of a wooden stick.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:30-compasses-and-the-magnetic-earth:t3:1
# text = In a cartoon, sailors use a compass made of a wooden stick.
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	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	sailors	sailor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	use	use	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	compass	compass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	wooden	wooden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	stick	stick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | present | sailors | a compass |  | a cartoon |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent compass=Patient |
| 2 | **make** | participle |  | a compass *not said here* |  |  |  | of a wooden stick | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |

<!-- .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 wrong?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:30-compasses-and-the-magnetic-earth:t3:2
# text = What's wrong?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Wood is too heavy to float on water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:30-compasses-and-the-magnetic-earth:t3:o1:1
# text = Wood is too heavy to float on water
1	Wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	too	too	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	float	float	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Wood |  |  |  |  | heavy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **float** | to-infinitive | Wood *not said here* |  |  | water |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on water=Trajectory |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, any wooden stick will point north if it floats

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:30-compasses-and-the-magnetic-earth:t3:o2:1
# text = Nothing, any wooden stick will point north if it floats
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	5	det	_	_
4	wooden	wooden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	stick	stick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	point	point	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	north	north	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
9	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	floats	float	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **point** | future | Nothing |  |  |  |  | north *property* | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **float** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | stick |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sticks only point south

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:30-compasses-and-the-magnetic-earth:t3:o3:1
# text = Sticks only point south
1	Sticks	stick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	point	point	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	south	south	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **point** | present | Sticks |  |  |  |  | south *property* | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The needle must be a magnet, and wood is not magnetic

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:30-compasses-and-the-magnetic-earth:t3:o4:1
# text = The needle must be a magnet, and wood is not magnetic
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	needle	needle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	cop	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	magnet	magnet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
9	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
11	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
12	magnetic	magnetic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | must | the needle | a magnet |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **is** | present | wood |  |  |  |  | magnetic *property* | tree rules |

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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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- ← previous: [Compasses and the magnetic Earth, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/30-compasses-and-the-magnetic-earth/t2/)
- next →: [Compasses and the magnetic Earth, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/30-compasses-and-the-magnetic-earth/t4/)
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