---
title: Mateo's brother asks at the border fence, "Is that to keep people ou… — Immigration and borders · tree and pragmatics
description: Mateo's brother asks at the border fence, "Is that to keep people out or in?" What do people argue about? Test 3 · ★★ of lesson 19 «Immigration and borders» of the politics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was 
---

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# Test 3 · ★★ · Immigration and borders

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mateo's brother asks at the border fence, "Is that to keep people out or in?" What do people argue about?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** brother, people · **What happens:** ask, be, keep out, argue · **To what, where:** border fence, that, people · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★★ of lesson 19 «Immigration and borders» 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/19-immigration-and-borders/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Mateo's brother asks at the border fence, "Is that to keep people out or in?"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:19-immigration-and-borders:t3:1
# text = Mateo's brother asks at the border fence, "Is that to keep people out or in?"
1	Mateo	Mateo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	asks	ask	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	border	border	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	fence	fence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	Is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
12	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	obl	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
15	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obj	_	_
16	out	out	ADP	RP	_	14	compound:prt	_	_
17	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | present | Mateo's brother |  |  | the border fence |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | present |  | that |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **keep out** *not said to happen, in a quote* | to-infinitive | Mateo's brother *not said here* | people |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent people=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What do people argue about?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:19-immigration-and-borders:t3:2
# text = What do people argue about?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	argue	argue	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	about	about	ADP	IN	_	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **argue** *speech: disagree* | present · do-support | people |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Whether Mexico is really a country or not

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:19-immigration-and-borders:t3:o1:1
# text = Whether Mexico is really a country or not
1	Whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	Mexico	Mexico	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	really	really	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	country	country	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	conj	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Whether the fence is made of steel or of wood

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:19-immigration-and-borders:t3:o2:1
# text = Whether the fence is made of steel or of wood
1	Whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	fence	fence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	steel	steel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present · passive |  | the fence |  |  |  | of steel or wood | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Whether the deserts near the border get hot in summer

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:19-immigration-and-borders:t3:o3:1
# text = Whether the deserts near the border get hot in summer
1	Whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	deserts	desert	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
4	near	near	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	border	border	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	get	get	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	hot	hot	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	summer	summer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | infinitive | the deserts near the border |  |  |  | summer | hot *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Whether walls fix the reasons people try to cross

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:19-immigration-and-borders:t3:o4:1
# text = Whether walls fix the reasons people try to cross
1	Whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	walls	wall	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	fix	fix	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	reasons	reason	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	try	try	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	cross	cross	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fix** | present | walls | the reasons |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent reason=Patient |
| 2 | **try** | present | people |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **cross** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | people *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V»: 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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- ← previous: [Immigration and borders, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/19-immigration-and-borders/t2/)
- next →: [Immigration and borders, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/19-immigration-and-borders/t4/)
- ↑ back to [Immigration and borders](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/19-immigration-and-borders/)