---
title: Your American cousin says, rather formally, "In the event that no ca… — Around the English-speaking world: Can… · tree and pragmatics
description: Your American cousin says, rather formally, "In the event that no candidate secures a majority of first preferences, the lowest candidate shall be excluded." Where does that rule come from? Test 9 · ★★ of lesson 9 «Around the English-speaking world: Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand» of the po
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/9-around-the-english-speaking-world-canada-australia-ireland-new-zealand/t9/)

<!-- 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/) / [Around the English-speaking world: Can…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/9-around-the-english-speaking-world-canada-australia-ireland-new-zealand/) / t9

# Test 9 · ★★ · Around the English-speaking world: Canada, Australia, Irel…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Your American cousin says, rather formally, "In the event that no candidate secures a majority of first preferences, the lowest candidate shall be excluded." Where does that rule come from?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** American cousin, candidate, rule · **What happens:** say, secure, exclude, come · **To what, where:** majority, lowest candidate, event · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★★ of lesson 9 «Around the English-speaking world: Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand» 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/9-around-the-english-speaking-world-canada-australia-ireland-new-zealand/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Your American cousin says, rather formally, "In the event that no candidate secures a majority of first preferences, the lowest candidate shall be excluded."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:9-around-the-english-speaking-world-canada-australia-ireland-new-zealand:t9:1
# text = Your American cousin says, rather formally, "In the event that no candidate secures a majority of first preferences, the lowest candidate shall be excluded."
1	Your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	American	American	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	cousin	cousin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	rather	rather	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	formally	formally	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
9	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	28	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	In	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	event	event	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obl	_	_
13	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
14	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	15	det	_	_
15	candidate	candidate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
16	secures	secure	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	acl	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	majority	majority	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	_
19	of	of	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	21	amod	_	_
21	preferences	preference	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
24	lowest	low	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	25	amod	_	_
25	candidate	candidate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	nsubj:pass	_	_
26	shall	shall	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	28	aux	_	_
27	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	28	aux:pass	_	_
28	excluded	exclude	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	28	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	28	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Your American cousin |  |  |  |  | formally *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **secure** *in a quote* | present | no candidate | a majority of first preferences |  |  |  |  | vn ensure-99 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition majority=Theme |
| 3 | **exclude** *in a quote* | shall · passive |  | the lowest candidate |  | the event |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: subject=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:* Where does that rule come from?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:9-around-the-english-speaking-world-canada-australia-ireland-new-zealand:t9:2
# text = Where does that rule come from?
1	Where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	5	advmod	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	det	_	_
4	rule	rule	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | present · do-support | that rule |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
UK first-past-the-post voting

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:9-around-the-english-speaking-world-canada-australia-ireland-new-zealand:t9:o1:1
# text = UK first-past-the-post voting
1	UK	UK	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	past	past	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	post	post	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	voting	voting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Australian preferential voting

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:9-around-the-english-speaking-world-canada-australia-ireland-new-zealand:t9:o2:1
# text = Australian preferential voting
1	Australian	Australian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
2	preferential	preferential	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	voting	voting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Irish President's election only

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:9-around-the-english-speaking-world-canada-australia-ireland-new-zealand:t9:o3:1
# text = The Irish President's election only
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	Irish	Irish	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	President	President	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	election	election	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **elect** |  | the Irish President |  |  |  |  |  | nom election «act transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The US Electoral College in Washington

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:9-around-the-english-speaking-world-canada-australia-ireland-new-zealand:t9:o4:1
# text = The US Electoral College in Washington
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	US	US	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
3	Electoral	Electoral	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	College	College	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Washington	Washington	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

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

<!-- 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: [Around the English-speaking world: Can…, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/9-around-the-english-speaking-world-canada-australia-ireland-new-zealand/t8/)
- next →: [Around the English-speaking world: Can…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/9-around-the-english-speaking-world-canada-australia-ireland-new-zealand/t10/)
- ↑ back to [Around the English-speaking world: Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/9-around-the-english-speaking-world-canada-australia-ireland-new-zealand/)