---
title: Why can a small motor raise a heavy lift full of people? — Pulleys, gears and big machines · tree and pragmatics
description: Why can a small motor raise a heavy lift full of people? Test 11 · ★★ of lesson 35 «Pulleys, gears and big machines» 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 right.
---

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# Test 11 · ★★ · Pulleys, gears and big machines

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why can a small motor raise a heavy lift full of people?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** small motor · **What happens:** raise · **To what, where:** heavy lift

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★★ of lesson 35 «Pulleys, gears and big machines» 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/35-pulleys-gears-and-big-machines/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:35-pulleys-gears-and-big-machines:t11:1
# text = Why can a small motor raise a heavy lift full of people?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	motor	motor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	raise	raise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	lift	lift	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
10	full	full	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **raise** | can | a small motor | a heavy lift |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lift=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.

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The counterweight balances most of the weight

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:35-pulleys-gears-and-big-machines:t11:o1:1
# text = The counterweight balances most of the weight
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	counterweight	counterweight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	balances	balance	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	3	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	weight	weight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **balance** | present | the counterweight | most of the weight |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location most=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cables pull upward on their own without any motor

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:35-pulleys-gears-and-big-machines:t11:o2:1
# text = The cables pull upward on their own without any motor
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cables	cable	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	pull	pull	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	upward	upward	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	obl	_	_
8	without	without	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	10	det	_	_
10	motor	motor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pull** | present | the cables |  |  |  |  | without any motor; on cables's own; upward *property* | vn push-12-1 «NP V PP-Conative»: agent=Agent on own=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The lift is filled with helium

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:35-pulleys-gears-and-big-machines:t11:o3:1
# text = The lift is filled with helium
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	lift	lift	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	filled	fill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	helium	helium	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fill** | present · passive |  | the lift |  |  |  | with helium | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: subject=Patient with helium=Instrument |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
People weigh less in lifts

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:35-pulleys-gears-and-big-machines:t11:o4:1
# text = People weigh less in lifts
1	People	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	weigh	weigh	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	less	less	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	2	advmod	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	lifts	lift	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **weigh** | present | People |  |  | lifts |  | less *property* | vn register-54.1-2-1 «NP V NP.value»: 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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