---
title: «If the late workers got the same pay, why work hard at all?» Best-r… — Parables: the Talents, the Sower and m… · tree and pragmatics
description: «If the late workers got the same pay, why work hard at all?» Best-reasoned reply? Test 11 · ★★★ of lesson 15 «Parables: the Talents, the Sower and more» of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice 
---

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# Test 11 · ★★★ · Parables: the Talents, the Sower and more

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«If the late workers got the same pay, why work hard at all?» Best-reasoned reply?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** late workers · **What happens:** get, work, reason · **To what, where:** same pay, reply

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★★★ of lesson 15 «Parables: the Talents, the Sower and more» 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/15-parables-talents-sower-and-more/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «If the late workers got the same pay, why work hard at all?»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:15-parables-talents-sower-and-more:t11:1
# text = «If the late workers got the same pay, why work hard at all?»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	late	late	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	workers	worker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	pay	pay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	12	advmod	_	_
12	work	work	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
13	hard	hard	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	12	advmod	_	_
14	at	at	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** *in a quote* | past | the late workers | the same pay |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer pay=Stimulus |
| 2 | **work** *in a quote* | present |  |  |  |  |  | at all; hard *property* | vn employment-95.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at all=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:* Best-reasoned reply?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:15-parables-talents-sower-and-more:t11:2
# text = Best-reasoned reply?
1	Best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	1	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	reasoned	reason	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	reply	reply	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reason** | participle |  | reply |  |  |  |  | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reply=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because the boss will always pay you double

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:15-parables-talents-sower-and-more:t11:o1:1
# text = Because the boss will always pay you double
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	boss	boss	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	6	advmod	_	_
6	pay	pay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	advcl	_	_
7	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	double	double	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pay** | future | the boss | you |  |  |  | always *property* | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Asset |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The story is about God's generosity, not a rule for wages; work still matters

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:15-parables-talents-sower-and-more:t11:o2:1
# text = The story is about God's generosity, not a rule for wages; work still matters
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	about	about	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	generosity	generosity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	rule	rule	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	appos	_	_
12	for	for	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	wages	wage	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	15	punct	_	_
15	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nsubj	_	_
16	still	still	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	matters	matter	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the story |  |  |  |  | about God's generosity | tree rules |
| 2 | **matter** | present | work | God's generosity *not said here* |  |  | still |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It's fair because the late ones were richer

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:15-parables-talents-sower-and-more:t11:o3:1
# text = It's fair because the late ones were richer
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	expl	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	fair	fair	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	late	late	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	ones	one	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
8	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	richer	rich	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | fair *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | past | the late ones |  |  |  |  | rich *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
You shouldn't, it proves hard work is pointless

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:15-parables-talents-sower-and-more:t11:o4:1
# text = You shouldn't, it proves hard work is pointless
1	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	proves	prove	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	advcl	_	_
7	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
10	pointless	pointless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prove** | should | it | hard work |  |  |  |  | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent work=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | pointless *property* | tree rules |

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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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- next →: [Parables: the Talents, the Sower and m…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/15-parables-talents-sower-and-more/e1/)
- ↑ back to [Parables: the Talents, the Sower and more](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/15-parables-talents-sower-and-more/)