---
title: A cartoon shows the US Supreme Court as nine kings ruling America. W… — The King, the courts and the rules abo… · tree and pragmatics
description: A cartoon shows the US Supreme Court as nine kings ruling America. What should be fixed? Test 9 · ★★★ of lesson 7 «The King, the courts and the rules above the rules» of the politics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's c
---

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# Test 9 · ★★★ · The King, the courts and the rules above the rules

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A cartoon shows the US Supreme Court as nine kings ruling America. What should be fixed?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** cartoon, nine kings · **What happens:** show, rule, fix · **To what, where:** US Supreme Court, America

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★★★ of lesson 7 «The King, the courts and the rules above the rules» 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/7-the-king-the-courts-and-the-rules-above-the-rules/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A cartoon shows the US Supreme Court as nine kings ruling America.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:7-the-king-the-courts-and-the-rules-above-the-rules:t9:1
# text = A cartoon shows the US Supreme Court as nine kings ruling America.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	US	US	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
6	Supreme	Supreme	ADJ	NNP	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	Court	Court	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	iobj	_	_
8	as	as	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	nine	nine	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
10	kings	king	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
11	ruling	rule	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	acl	_	_
12	America	America	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | a cartoon |  | the US Supreme Court |  |  | as nine kings | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent court=Recipient |
| 2 | **rule** | gerund | nine kings *not said here* | America |  |  |  |  | vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP NP»: agent=Agent america=Result |

<!-- .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 should be fixed?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:7-the-king-the-courts-and-the-rules-above-the-rules:t9:2
# text = What should be fixed?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	fixed	fix	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fix** | should · passive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: subject=Patient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are kings chosen by the British crown

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:7-the-king-the-courts-and-the-rules-above-the-rules:t9:o1:1
# text = They are kings chosen by the British crown
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	kings	king	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	chosen	choose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	British	British	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	crown	crown	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | They | kings |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **choose** | participle |  | kings *not said here* |  |  |  | by the British crown | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are the president's family members

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:7-the-king-the-courts-and-the-rules-above-the-rules:t9:o2:1
# text = They are the president's family members
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	president	president	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	members	member	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | They | the president's family members |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are judges who decide whether laws fit the Constitution, not rulers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:7-the-king-the-courts-and-the-rules-above-the-rules:t9:o3:1
# text = They are judges who decide whether laws fit the Constitution, not rulers
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	judges	judge	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	decide	decide	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
6	whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	laws	law	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	fit	fit	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	Constitution	constitution	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	rulers	ruler	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | They | judges and rulers |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **decide** | present | judges and rulers |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **fit** | present | laws | the Constitution |  |  |  |  | vn adjust-26.9 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent constitution=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They are senators who make every single law and run the country between them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:7-the-king-the-courts-and-the-rules-above-the-rules:t9:o4:1
# text = They are senators who make every single law and run the country between them
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	senators	senator	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	make	make	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
6	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
7	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	run	run	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	country	country	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	between	between	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | They | senators |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **make** | present | senators | every single law |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent law=Product |
| 3 | **run** | infinitive | senators *not said here* | the country |  |  |  | between senators *= senator* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent country=Theme between they=Trajectory |

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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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- ↑ back to [The King, the courts and the rules above the rules](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/7-the-king-the-courts-and-the-rules-above-the-rules/)