---
title: A Gen X uncle: "Whoa, rad, they're taxing sneezes now! Total bummer.… — Propaganda and fake news · tree and pragmatics
description: A Gen X uncle: "Whoa, rad, they're taxing sneezes now! Total bummer." The story is from The Onion. What happened? Test 4 of lesson 31 «Propaganda and fake news» 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 
---

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# Test 4 · Propaganda and fake news

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A Gen X uncle: "Whoa, rad, they're taxing sneezes now! Total bummer." The story is from The Onion. What happened?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Gen X uncle, story · **What happens:** tax, be, happen · **To what, where:** sneezes, Onion

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 of lesson 31 «Propaganda and fake news» 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/31-propaganda-and-fake-news/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A Gen X uncle: "Whoa, rad, they're taxing sneezes now!

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:31-propaganda-and-fake-news:t4:1
# text = A Gen X uncle: "Whoa, rad, they're taxing sneezes now!
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	Gen	Gen	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
3	X	x	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	uncle	uncle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	Whoa	Whoa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	rad	rad	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
11	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	're	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	taxing	tax	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
14	sneezes	sneeze	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obj	_	_
15	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	13	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tax** *in a quote* | present · progressive | a Gen X uncle | sneezes |  |  | now |  | vn bill-54.5-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent sneeze=Recipient |

<!-- .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:* Total bummer."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:31-propaganda-and-fake-news:t4:2
# text = Total bummer."
1	Total	total	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	bummer	bummer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* The story is from The Onion.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:31-propaganda-and-fake-news:t4:3
# text = The story is from The Onion.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Onion	onion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the story |  |  | the Onion |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 4:* What happened?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:31-propaganda-and-fake-news:t4:4
# text = What happened?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	nsubj	_	_
2	happened	happen	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He mistook satire for real news

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:31-propaganda-and-fake-news:t4:o1:1
# text = He mistook satire for real news
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	mistook	mistake	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	satire	satire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	news	news	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mistake** | past | He | satire |  |  |  | for real news | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He saw some wartime propaganda on TV

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:31-propaganda-and-fake-news:t4:o2:1
# text = He saw some wartime propaganda on TV
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	5	det	_	_
4	wartime	wartime	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	propaganda	propaganda	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	TV	TV	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | past | He | some wartime propaganda |  | TV |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer propaganda=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He found a secret government plan

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:31-propaganda-and-fake-news:t4:o3:1
# text = He found a secret government plan
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	found	find	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	secret	secret	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
5	government	government	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	plan	plan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **find** | past | He | a secret government plan |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent plan=Topic |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He read a correction about taxes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:31-propaganda-and-fake-news:t4:o4:1
# text = He read a correction about taxes
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	read	read	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	correction	correction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	about	about	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	taxes	tax	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **read** | past | He | a correction |  |  |  | about taxes | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent correction=Topic |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Propaganda and fake news, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/31-propaganda-and-fake-news/t3/)
- next →: [Propaganda and fake news, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/31-propaganda-and-fake-news/t5/)
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