---
title: In a cartoon, the empty podium wins the debate because nobody argued… — Debates and rows on chat shows · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon, the empty podium wins the debate because nobody argued with it. What is the real point of an empty chair? Test 7 of lesson 11 «Debates and rows on chat shows» of the politics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mo
---

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# Test 7 · Debates and rows on chat shows

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon, the empty podium wins the debate because nobody argued with it. What is the real point of an empty chair?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** empty podium, nobody, real point · **What happens:** win, argue, be, point · **To what, where:** debate, cartoon, empty chair

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 of lesson 11 «Debates and rows on chat shows» of the politics 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/politics/11-debates-and-rows-on-chat-shows/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon, the empty podium wins the debate because nobody argued with it.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:11-debates-and-rows-on-chat-shows:t7:1
# text = In a cartoon, the empty podium wins the debate because nobody argued with it.
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	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	empty	empty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	podium	podium	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	wins	win	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	debate	debate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
12	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	13	nsubj	_	_
13	argued	argue	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
14	with	with	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **win** | present | the empty podium | the debate |  | a cartoon |  |  | vn succeed-74-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent debate=Eventuality |
| 2 | **argue** *speech: disagree* | past | nobody |  |  |  |  | with podium | vn chit\_chat-37.6-1 «NP V PP.co-agent»: agent=Agent with it=Co-Agent |

<!-- .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 is the real point of an empty chair?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:11-debates-and-rows-on-chat-shows:t7:2
# text = What is the real point of an empty chair?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	point	point	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	empty	empty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	chair	chair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the real point of a empty chair |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **point** |  |  | a empty chair |  |  |  |  | nom point «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It shows a leader said no, and people ask why

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:11-debates-and-rows-on-chat-shows:t7:o1:1
# text = It shows a leader said no, and people ask why
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	leader	leader	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
6	no	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	5	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
10	ask	ask	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
11	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	10	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | a leader |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **ask** *speech: ask* | present | people |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Empty podiums get extra points

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:11-debates-and-rows-on-chat-shows:t7:o2:1
# text = Empty podiums get extra points
1	Empty	empty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	podiums	podium	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	get	get	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	extra	extra	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	points	point	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | present | Empty podiums | extra points |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer point=Stimulus |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Channels must cancel the debate

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:11-debates-and-rows-on-chat-shows:t7:o3:1
# text = Channels must cancel the debate
1	Channels	channel	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	cancel	cancel	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	debate	debate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cancel** | must | Channels | the debate |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It means the leader won already

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:11-debates-and-rows-on-chat-shows:t7:o4:1
# text = It means the leader won already
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	leader	leader	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	won	win	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
6	already	already	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **win** | past | the leader |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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- ← previous: [Debates and rows on chat shows, test 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/11-debates-and-rows-on-chat-shows/t6/)
- next →: [Debates and rows on chat shows, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/11-debates-and-rows-on-chat-shows/t8/)
- ↑ back to [Debates and rows on chat shows](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/11-debates-and-rows-on-chat-shows/)