---
title: What's the clever trick that lets one motor run a whole escalator? — Pulleys, gears and big machines · tree and pragmatics
description: What's the clever trick that lets one motor run a whole escalator? Test 9 · ★★ 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 9 · ★★ · Pulleys, gears and big machines

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What's the clever trick that lets one motor run a whole escalator?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** clever trick, one motor · **What happens:** be, let, run · **To what, where:** clever trick, one motor, whole escalator

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★★ 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/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:35-pulleys-gears-and-big-machines:t9:1
# text = What's the clever trick that lets one motor run a whole escalator?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	trick	trick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	lets	let	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
8	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	motor	motor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	run	run	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	escalator	escalator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | the clever trick |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **let** | present | the clever trick | one motor |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **run** | infinitive | one motor *not said here* | a whole escalator |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme escalator=Trajectory |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Magnets lift each step

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:35-pulleys-gears-and-big-machines:t9:o1:1
# text = Magnets lift each step
1	Magnets	magnet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	lift	lift	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	det	_	_
4	step	step	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lift** | present | Magnets | each step |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent step=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A long loop of steps is pulled round by a motor and gears

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:35-pulleys-gears-and-big-machines:t9:o2:1
# text = A long loop of steps is pulled round by a motor and gears
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	loop	loop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	steps	step	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	pulled	pull	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
8	round	round	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	motor	motor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl:agent	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	gears	gear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pull round** | present · passive | a motor and gears | a long loop of steps |  |  |  | round *property* | vn push-12-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Each step has its own small engine

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:35-pulleys-gears-and-big-machines:t9:o3:1
# text = Each step has its own small engine
1	Each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	step	step	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
5	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	engine	engine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | each step | step's own small engine |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent engine=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
People's weight pushes the steps up

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:35-pulleys-gears-and-big-machines:t9:o4:1
# text = People's weight pushes the steps up
1	People	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	weight	weight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	pushes	push	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	steps	step	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	up	up	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **push up** | present | People's weight | the steps |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent step=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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