---
title: What would happen if Oliver hid the dead tadpoles and said nothing? — Letting a friend down: broken promises… · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen if Oliver hid the dead tadpoles and said nothing? Test 5 · ★ of lesson 4 «Letting a friend down: broken promises and spilled secrets» of the reflection course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was rig
---

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# Test 5 · ★ · Letting a friend down: broken promises and spilled secrets

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen if Oliver hid the dead tadpoles and said nothing?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Oliver · **What happens:** happen, hide, say · **To what, where:** dead tadpoles, nothing · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★ of lesson 4 «Letting a friend down: broken promises and spilled secrets» 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/4-letting-a-friend-down-broken-promises-and-spilled-secrets/#t5).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:4-letting-a-friend-down-broken-promises-and-spilled-secrets:t5:1
# text = What would happen if Oliver hid the dead tadpoles and said nothing?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	Oliver	Oliver	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	hid	hide	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	tadpoles	tadpole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
12	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **hide** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | Oliver | the dead tadpoles |  |  |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tadpole=Patient |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Oliver *not said here* | nothing |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent nothing=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The teacher would never need to know anything, and the tadpoles would be fine

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:4-letting-a-friend-down-broken-promises-and-spilled-secrets:t5:o1:1
# text = The teacher would never need to know anything, and the tadpoles would be fine
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	need	need	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	tadpoles	tadpole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nsubj	_	_
13	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
14	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	cop	_	_
15	fine	fine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **need** | would | the teacher |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **know** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the teacher *not said here* | anything |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer anything=Stimulus |
| 3 | **is** | would | the tadpoles |  |  |  |  | fine *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He'd likely feel worse, and nobody could help fix the problem

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:4-letting-a-friend-down-broken-promises-and-spilled-secrets:t5:o2:1
# text = He'd likely feel worse, and nobody could help fix the problem
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'd	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	likely	likely	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	feel	feel	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
5	worse	bad	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
8	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	10	nsubj	_	_
9	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
11	fix	fix	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **feel** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | bad *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **help** | could | nobody |  |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 3 | **fix** | infinitive | nobody *not said here* | the problem |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent problem=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Everyone would trust him more with jobs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:4-letting-a-friend-down-broken-promises-and-spilled-secrets:t5:o3:1
# text = Everyone would trust him more with jobs
1	Everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	trust	trust	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	3	advmod	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	jobs	job	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **trust** | would | Everyone |  | him *= he* |  |  | with jobs | vn fulfilling-13.4.1 «NP V NP-Fulfilling PP.theme»: agent=Agent he=Recipient with job=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The tadpoles would come back to life on their own

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:4-letting-a-friend-down-broken-promises-and-spilled-secrets:t5:o4:1
# text = The tadpoles would come back to life on their own
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	tadpoles	tadpole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	back	back	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	on	on	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come back** | would | the tadpoles |  |  | tadpoles's own |  | to life | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to life=Initial\_Location |

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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.

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