---
title: Why do drivers use low gears on long mountain roads? — Friction: the grip that stops and helps · tree and pragmatics
description: Why do drivers use low gears on long mountain roads? Test 5 of lesson 6 «Friction: the grip that stops and helps» 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 5 · Friction: the grip that stops and helps

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why do drivers use low gears on long mountain roads?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** drivers · **What happens:** use · **To what, where:** low gears, long mountain roads

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 of lesson 6 «Friction: the grip that stops and helps» 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/6-friction-the-grip/#t5).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:6-friction-the-grip:t5:1
# text = Why do drivers use low gears on long mountain roads?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	drivers	driver	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	use	use	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	low	low	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	gears	gear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
9	mountain	mountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	roads	road	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | present · do-support | drivers | low gears |  | long mountain roads |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent gear=Patient |

<!-- .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 -->
So the car goes faster downhill

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:6-friction-the-grip:t5:o1:1
# text = So the car goes faster downhill
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	goes	go	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	faster	fast	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	4	advmod	_	_
6	downhill	downhill	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | present | the car |  |  |  |  | downhill, fast *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To save petrol going down

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:6-friction-the-grip:t5:o2:1
# text = To save petrol going down
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	save	save	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
3	petrol	petrol	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	down	down	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **save** | to-infinitive |  | petrol |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent petrol=Theme |
| 2 | **go down** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | down *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
So the brakes do not get too hot

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:6-friction-the-grip:t5:o3:1
# text = So the brakes do not get too hot
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	brakes	brake	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
4	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	too	too	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	hot	hot	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **get** | present · do-support | the brakes |  |  |  |  | hot *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because high gears break on hills

```conllu
# sent_id = question:physics:6-friction-the-grip:t5:o4:1
# text = Because high gears break on hills
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	gears	gear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	break	break	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	hills	hill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **break** | present | high gears |  |  | hills |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on hill=Location |

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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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