---
title: My brother promised to help me and then went off with his mates, "it… — Noah and the Tower of Babel · tree and pragmatics
description: My brother promised to help me and then went off with his mates, "it's just a stupid promise, chill". What does the rainbow story teach? Test 6 of lesson 3 «Noah and the Tower of Babel» of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question an
---

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# Test 6 · Noah and the Tower of Babel

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
My brother promised to help me and then went off with his mates, "it's just a stupid promise, chill". What does the rainbow story teach?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** brother, it · **What happens:** promise, help, go off, be, do · **To what, where:** me, stupid promise · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 of lesson 3 «Noah and the Tower of Babel» 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/3-noah-and-the-tower-of-babel/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* My brother promised to help me and then went off with his mates, "it's just a stupid promise, chill".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:3-noah-and-the-tower-of-babel:t6:1
# text = My brother promised to help me and then went off with his mates, "it's just a stupid promise, chill".
1	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	promised	promise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	9	advmod	_	_
9	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
10	off	off	ADP	RP	_	9	compound:prt	_	_
11	with	with	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	mates	mate	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
15	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	21	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
18	just	just	ADV	RB	_	21	advmod	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
20	stupid	stupid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	promise	promise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
23	chill	chill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	23	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **promise** *speech: promise* | past | My brother |  |  |  |  |  | vn promise-37.13 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **help** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | My brother *not said here* |  | me |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent i=Beneficiary |
| 3 | **go off** | past | My brother *not said here* |  |  |  | then | with brother's mates | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V ADV»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | it | a stupid promise |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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:* What does the rainbow story teach?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:3-noah-and-the-tower-of-babel:t6:2
# text = What does the rainbow story teach?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl:relcl	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	rainbow	rainbow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	teach	teach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Promises don't matter if you change your mind or something better comes up

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:3-noah-and-the-tower-of-babel:t6:o1:1
# text = Promises don't matter if you change your mind or something better comes up
1	Promises	promise	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	matter	matter	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	change	change	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	advcl	_	_
8	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	mind	mind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	9	conj	_	_
12	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	11	amod	_	_
13	comes	come	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
14	up	up	ADP	RP	_	13	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **matter** | present · do-support | Promises |  |  |  |  |  | vn matter-91 «NP V»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **change** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | you | your mind |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mind=Patient |
| 3 | **come up** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **mind** |  | your |  |  |  |  |  | nom mind «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only God has to keep promises

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:3-noah-and-the-tower-of-babel:t6:o2:1
# text = Only God has to keep promises
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	promises	promise	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | God |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **keep** | to-infinitive | God *not said here* | promises |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent promise=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A promise is a serious thing, as God's promise is kept

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:3-noah-and-the-tower-of-babel:t6:o3:1
# text = A promise is a serious thing, as God's promise is kept
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	promise	promise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	serious	serious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
8	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
9	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	promise	promise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj:pass	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	kept	keep	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a promise | a serious thing |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **keep** | present · passive | a serious thing *not said here* | God's promise |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 3 | **promise** |  | God |  |  |  |  |  | nom promise «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A promise only counts if it is written down

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:3-noah-and-the-tower-of-babel:t6:o4:1
# text = A promise only counts if it is written down
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	promise	promise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	counts	count	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	written	write	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	advcl	_	_
9	down	down	ADP	RP	_	8	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **count** | present | a promise |  |  |  |  |  | vn matter-91 «NP V»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **write down** *a condition, not said to happen* | present · passive |  | promise |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

<!-- 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 -->

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