---
title: Noah in Denver says: «why won't the president just say? zero rizz, f… — Taiwan, China and the word «tensions» · tree and pragmatics
description: Noah in Denver says: «why won't the president just say? zero rizz, fr.» Why might he stay vague on purpose? Test 5 · ★★ of lesson 29 «Taiwan, China and the word «tensions»» of the politics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mo
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/29-taiwan-china-and-the-word-tensions/t5/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Politics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/) / [Taiwan, China and the word «tensions»](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/29-taiwan-china-and-the-word-tensions/) / t5

# Test 5 · ★★ · Taiwan, China and the word «tensions»

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Noah in Denver says: «why won't the president just say? zero rizz, fr.» Why might he stay vague on purpose?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Noah, president · **What happens:** say, not say, stay · **To what, where:** zero rizz, purpose · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★★ of lesson 29 «Taiwan, China and the word «tensions»» 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/29-taiwan-china-and-the-word-tensions/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Noah in Denver says: «why won't the president just say? zero rizz, fr.»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:29-taiwan-china-and-the-word-tensions:t5:1
# text = Noah in Denver says: «why won't the president just say? zero rizz, fr.»
1	Noah	Noah	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	Denver	Denver	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	4	punct	_	_
6	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	13	advmod	_	_
8	wo	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	president	president	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
12	just	just	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	_
15	zero	zero	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	16	nummod	_	_
16	rizz	rizz	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
18	fr	fr	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: ask* | present | Noah in Denver |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **not** **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | future | the president | zero rizz |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent rizz=Topic |

<!-- .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:* Why might he stay vague on purpose?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:29-taiwan-china-and-the-word-tensions:t5:2
# text = Why might he stay vague on purpose?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	stay	stay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	vague	vague	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stay** | might | president |  |  | purpose |  | vague *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on purpose=Location |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He forgot what the question was

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:29-taiwan-china-and-the-word-tensions:t5:o1:1
# text = He forgot what the question was
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	forgot	forget	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	ccomp	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **forget** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | past | the question |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The US has no view about Taiwan at all and has never once made any law about it or sold it anything

<!-- fold The tree, 22 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:29-taiwan-china-and-the-word-tensions:t5:o2:1
# text = The US has no view about Taiwan at all and has never once made any law about it or sold it anything
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	US	US	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	5	det	_	_
5	view	view	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	about	about	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	Taiwan	Taiwan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	nmod	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
11	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
12	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
13	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	14	advmod	_	_
14	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	3	conj	_	_
15	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	16	det	_	_
16	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
17	about	about	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nmod	_	_
19	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
20	sold	sell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	conj	_	_
21	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	obj	_	_
22	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	20	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | the US | no view |  | all |  | about Taiwan | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent view=Patient |
| 2 | **not** **make** | present · perfect | the US *not said here* | any law |  |  |  | about law; once *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset law=Product |
| 3 | **sell** | past | the US *not said here* | view |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent it=Recipient anything=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is illegal to talk about Taiwan

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:29-taiwan-china-and-the-word-tensions:t5:o3:1
# text = It is illegal to talk about Taiwan
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	illegal	illegal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	talk	talk	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	about	about	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	Taiwan	Taiwan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | illegal *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **talk** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | about Taiwan | vn talk-37.5 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent about taiwan=Topic |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Keeping both sides guessing is meant to stop anyone risking a war

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:29-taiwan-china-and-the-word-tensions:t5:o4:1
# text = Keeping both sides guessing is meant to stop anyone risking a war
1	Keeping	keep	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	csubj:pass	_	_
2	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	3	det	_	_
3	sides	side	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
4	guessing	guess	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	meant	mean	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	anyone	anyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	8	obj	_	_
10	risking	risk	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	xcomp	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	war	war	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | gerund |  | both sides |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent side=Theme |
| 2 | **guess** | gerund | both sides *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **mean** | present · passive | Keeping |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S\_INF»: clause=Topic |
| 4 | **stop** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Keeping *not said here* | anyone |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **risk** | gerund | Keeping *not said here* | a war |  |  |  |  | vn risk-94-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent war=Pivot |

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Taiwan, China and the word «tensions», test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/29-taiwan-china-and-the-word-tensions/t4/)
- next →: [Taiwan, China and the word «tensions», test 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/29-taiwan-china-and-the-word-tensions/t6/)
- ↑ back to [Taiwan, China and the word «tensions»](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/29-taiwan-china-and-the-word-tensions/)