---
title: Ben's mate says, "touching the switch is just a quirk, everyone does… — The mind at night: replays, worst-case… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ben's mate says, "touching the switch is just a quirk, everyone does it." When should Ben tell a grown-up? Test 9 · ★★ of lesson 26 «The mind at night: replays, worst-case thinking and nightmares» of the reflection course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the quest
---

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# Test 9 · ★★ · The mind at night: replays, worst-case thinking and nightm…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ben's mate says, "touching the switch is just a quirk, everyone does it." When should Ben tell a grown-up?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** mate, touching, everyone, Ben · **What happens:** say, touch, be, do, tell · **To what, where:** switch, quirk, grown up · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 9 · ★★ of lesson 26 «The mind at night: replays, worst-case thinking and nightmares» of the reflection 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/reflection/26-the-mind-at-night-replays-worst-case-thinking-and-nightmares/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Ben's mate says, "touching the switch is just a quirk, everyone does it."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:26-the-mind-at-night-replays-worst-case-thinking-and-nightmares:t9:1
# text = Ben's mate says, "touching the switch is just a quirk, everyone does it."
1	Ben	Ben	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	mate	mate	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	,	_	13	punct	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	touching	touch	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	13	csubj	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	switch	switch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
11	just	just	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	quirk	quirk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	16	nsubj	_	_
16	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	advcl	_	_
17	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Ben's mate |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **touch** *in a quote* | gerund |  | the switch |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme switch=Co-Theme |
| 3 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | touching | a quirk |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **do** *in a quote* | present | everyone | switch |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Eventuality |

<!-- .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:* When should Ben tell a grown-up?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:26-the-mind-at-night-replays-worst-case-thinking-and-nightmares:t9:2
# text = When should Ben tell a grown-up?
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	Ben	Ben	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	grown	grown	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	up	up	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | should | Ben | a grown up |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent up=Recipient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only if the light switch breaks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:26-the-mind-at-night-replays-worst-case-thinking-and-nightmares:t9:o1:1
# text = Only if the light switch breaks
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
2	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	switch	switch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	breaks	break	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **break** | present | the light switch |  |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
When it keeps growing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:26-the-mind-at-night-replays-worst-case-thinking-and-nightmares:t9:o2:1
# text = When it keeps growing
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	keeps	keep	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	growing	grow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **grow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Never; rules like that always fix themselves

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:26-the-mind-at-night-replays-worst-case-thinking-and-nightmares:t9:o3:1
# text = Never; rules like that always fix themselves
1	Never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	3	punct	_	_
3	rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
4	like	like	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	nmod	_	_
6	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	7	advmod	_	_
7	fix	fix	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **fix** | infinitive | rules like that | rules *= rule* |  |  |  | always *property* | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent themselves=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only if his mum finds out first

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:26-the-mind-at-night-replays-worst-case-thinking-and-nightmares:t9:o4:1
# text = Only if his mum finds out first
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
2	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
3	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	mum	mum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	finds	find	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	out	out	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **find out** | present | his mum |  |  |  |  | first *property* | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent |

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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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