---
title: "Last spot on the trip should go to Sam, he's my mate." What weak ar… — Lifeboat choices · tree and pragmatics
description: "Last spot on the trip should go to Sam, he's my mate." What weak argument is this? Test 10 · ★★ of lesson 48 «Lifeboat choices» 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 10 · ★★ · Lifeboat choices

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"Last spot on the trip should go to Sam, he's my mate." What weak argument is this?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Last spot, spot, weak argument · **What happens:** go, be · **To what, where:** Sam, mate

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This is test 10 · ★★ of lesson 48 «Lifeboat choices» 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/48-lifeboat-choices/#t10).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* "Last spot on the trip should go to Sam, he's my mate."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:48-lifeboat-choices:t10:1
# text = "Last spot on the trip should go to Sam, he's my mate."
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	spot	spot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	trip	trip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	Sam	Sam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
14	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	vocative	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** *in a quote* | should | Last spot on the trip |  |  | Sam |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to sam=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | spot | my mate |  |  |  |  | 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 weak argument is this?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:48-lifeboat-choices:t10:2
# text = What weak argument is this?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	weak	weak	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	argument	argument	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
5	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | weak argument |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A strong argument, as friends come first in fairness

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:48-lifeboat-choices:t10:o1:1
# text = A strong argument, as friends come first in fairness
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	argument	argument	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	friends	friend	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	come	come	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
8	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	7	advmod	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	fairness	fairness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | present | friends |  |  | fairness |  | first *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in fairness=Location |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Favouritism: it ignores fairness to the others

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:48-lifeboat-choices:t10:o2:1
# text = Favouritism: it ignores fairness to the others
1	Favouritism	favouritism	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	4	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	ignores	ignore	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	fairness	fairness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	others	other	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ignore** | present | Favouritism | fairness |  |  |  | to the others | vn neglect-75.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fairness=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A lottery, which is fair to everyone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:48-lifeboat-choices:t10:o3:1
# text = A lottery, which is fair to everyone
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	lottery	lottery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
4	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	fair	fair	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	acl:relcl	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | a lottery |  |  |  |  | to everyone; fair *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An argument from need, which is always fair

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:48-lifeboat-choices:t10:o4:1
# text = An argument from need, which is always fair
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	argument	argument	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	need	need	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
8	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	9	advmod	_	_
9	fair	fair	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | a argument from need |  |  |  |  | always, fair *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.

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- ← previous: [Lifeboat choices, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/48-lifeboat-choices/t9/)
- next →: [Lifeboat choices, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/48-lifeboat-choices/t11/)
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