---
title: Judge: «Why did Jesus answer the lawyer with a story instead of a ru… — Parables: the Good Samaritan, the Prod… · tree and pragmatics
description: Judge: «Why did Jesus answer the lawyer with a story instead of a rule?» Test 9 · ★★ of lesson 14 «Parables: the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son and the Lost Sheep» of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mo
---

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# Test 9 · ★★ · Parables: the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son and the Los…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Judge: «Why did Jesus answer the lawyer with a story instead of a rule?»

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Jesus · **What happens:** answer · **To what, where:** lawyer

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This is test 9 · ★★ of lesson 14 «Parables: the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son and the Lost Sheep» of the religion ethics 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/religion-ethics/14-parables-good-samaritan-prodigal-son-lost-sheep/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:14-parables-good-samaritan-prodigal-son-lost-sheep:t9:1
# text = Judge: «Why did Jesus answer the lawyer with a story instead of a rule?»
1	Judge	judge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
3	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
5	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	Jesus	Jesus	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	answer	answer	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	appos	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	lawyer	lawyer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
13	instead	instead	ADV	RB	ExtPos=ADP	16	case	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	fixed	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	rule	rule	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **answer** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | past · do-support | Jesus |  | the lawyer |  |  |  | vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent lawyer=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Jesus did not know the answer to the question

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:14-parables-good-samaritan-prodigal-son-lost-sheep:t9:o1:1
# text = Jesus did not know the answer to the question
1	Jesus	Jesus	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **know** | past · do-support | Jesus | the answer |  |  |  | to the question | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer answer=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A story makes him see who acted as neighbour

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:14-parables-good-samaritan-prodigal-son-lost-sheep:t9:o2:1
# text = A story makes him see who acted as neighbour
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	acted	act	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
8	as	as	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	neighbour	neighbour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | a story | him *= he* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **see** | infinitive | him *= he* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 3 | **act** | past |  |  |  |  |  | as neighbour | vn masquerade-29.6-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Agent as neighbour=Attribute |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stories were the only thing allowed to be taught

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:14-parables-good-samaritan-prodigal-son-lost-sheep:t9:o3:1
# text = Stories were the only thing allowed to be taught
1	Stories	story	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	only	only	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	allowed	allow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
8	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	taught	teach	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | Stories | the only thing |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **allow** | participle |  | the only thing *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Causer clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **teach** *speech: other* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive · passive | the only thing *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V» |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rules about who counts as a neighbour did not exist then

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:14-parables-good-samaritan-prodigal-son-lost-sheep:t9:o4:1
# text = Rules about who counts as a neighbour did not exist then
1	Rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
2	about	about	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
3	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	4	nsubj	_	_
4	counts	count	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl	_	_
5	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	neighbour	neighbour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	exist	exist	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
11	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	10	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **count** | present | Rules |  |  |  |  | as a neighbour | vn masquerade-29.6 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Agent as neighbour=Attribute |
| 2 | **not** **exist** | past · do-support | Rules |  |  |  | then |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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- ↑ back to [Parables: the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son and the Lost Sheep](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/14-parables-good-samaritan-prodigal-son-lost-sheep/)