---
title: Two friends argue for ages about whether a game is "fair". What woul… — How to argue: reasons and evidence · tree and pragmatics
description: Two friends argue for ages about whether a game is "fair". What would help most? Test 8 · ★★ of lesson 39 «How to argue: reasons and evidence» 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 was right.
---

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# Test 8 · ★★ · How to argue: reasons and evidence

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Two friends argue for ages about whether a game is "fair". What would help most?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Two friends, game · **What happens:** argue, be, help · **To what, where:** ages · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 8 · ★★ of lesson 39 «How to argue: reasons and evidence» 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/39-how-to-argue-reasons-and-evidence/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Two friends argue for ages about whether a game is "fair".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:39-how-to-argue-reasons-and-evidence:t8:1
# text = Two friends argue for ages about whether a game is "fair".
1	Two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	friends	friend	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	argue	argue	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	ages	age	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
6	about	about	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
7	whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	game	game	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
11	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	fair	fair	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **argue** *speech: disagree* | present | Two friends |  |  |  | for ages |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | a game | ages *not said here* |  |  |  | fair *property* | 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 would help most?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:39-how-to-argue-reasons-and-evidence:t8:2
# text = What would help most?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **help** | would |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Seeing who can say "fair" the loudest

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:39-how-to-argue-reasons-and-evidence:t8:o1:1
# text = Seeing who can say "fair" the loudest
1	Seeing	see	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	csubj	_	_
2	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	4	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	fair	fair	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	loudest	loud	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	4	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | can |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Letting the older one decide, no questions

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:39-how-to-argue-reasons-and-evidence:t8:o2:1
# text = Letting the older one decide, no questions
1	Letting	let	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
3	older	old	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	amod	_	_
4	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	decide	decide	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	8	det	_	_
8	questions	question	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **let** | gerund |  | the older one decide and no questions |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent decide=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stopping the game and going home in a mood

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:39-how-to-argue-reasons-and-evidence:t8:o3:1
# text = Stopping the game and going home in a mood
1	Stopping	stop	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	game	game	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
6	home	home	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	mood	mood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stop** | gerund |  | the game |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Subeventuality game=Eventuality |
| 2 | **go** | gerund |  |  |  | a mood |  | home *property* | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in mood=Location |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Asking what each of them means by "fair"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:39-how-to-argue-reasons-and-evidence:t8:o4:1
# text = Asking what each of them means by "fair"
1	Asking	ask	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	6	obj	_	_
3	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	nsubj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nmod	_	_
6	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	fair	fair	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | by fair | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **mean** | present | each |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

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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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- ← previous: [How to argue: reasons and evidence, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/39-how-to-argue-reasons-and-evidence/t7/)
- next →: [How to argue: reasons and evidence, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/39-how-to-argue-reasons-and-evidence/t9/)
- ↑ back to [How to argue: reasons and evidence](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/39-how-to-argue-reasons-and-evidence/)