---
title: A judge asks: "In the burning house, why save the pet?" Which answer… — Lifeboat choices · tree and pragmatics
description: A judge asks: "In the burning house, why save the pet?" Which answer is best-reasoned? Test 4 · ★★ 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 right.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/48-lifeboat-choices/t4/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Religion ethics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/) / [Lifeboat choices](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/48-lifeboat-choices/) / t4

# Test 4 · ★★ · Lifeboat choices

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A judge asks: "In the burning house, why save the pet?" Which answer is best-reasoned?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** judge · **What happens:** ask, save, reason · **To what, where:** pet, burning house, answer · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★★ 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/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A judge asks: "In the burning house, why save the pet?"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:48-lifeboat-choices:t4:1
# text = A judge asks: "In the burning house, why save the pet?"
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	judge	judge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	asks	ask	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	12	punct	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	In	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	burning	burning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
11	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	12	advmod	_	_
12	save	save	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	pet	pet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | present | a judge |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **save** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | the pet |  | the burning house |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pet=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:* Which answer is best-reasoned?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:48-lifeboat-choices:t4:2
# text = Which answer is best-reasoned?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
4	best	well	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	reasoned	reason	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reason** | present · passive |  | which answer |  |  |  | well *property* | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It trusts me and depends on me, though I know the money could help many people

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:48-lifeboat-choices:t4:o1:1
# text = It trusts me and depends on me, though I know the money could help many people
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	trusts	trust	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	depends	depend	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	though	though	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	know	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
14	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
15	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	ccomp	_	_
16	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **trust** | present | It | me |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent i=Theme |
| 2 | **depend** | present |  |  |  |  |  | on me | vn rely-70 «NP V PP.theme S\_ING»: agent=Agent on i=Theme |
| 3 | **know** | present | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 4 | **help** | could | the money |  | many people |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent people=Beneficiary |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because the other team's answer was silly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:48-lifeboat-choices:t4:o2:1
# text = Because the other team's answer was silly
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	team	team	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	silly	silly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the other team's answer |  |  |  |  | silly *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **answer** |  | the other team |  |  |  |  |  | nom answer «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because paintings can't feel and charity doesn't matter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:48-lifeboat-choices:t4:o3:1
# text = Because paintings can't feel and charity doesn't matter
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	paintings	painting	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	feel	feel	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
7	charity	charity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
8	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	matter	matter	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **feel** | can | paintings |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **not** **matter** | present · do-support | charity |  |  |  |  |  | vn matter-91 «NP V»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because I said so, and that is my answer

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:48-lifeboat-choices:t4:o4:1
# text = Because I said so, and that is my answer
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	so	so	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	10	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
9	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | present | that | my answer |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Lifeboat choices, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/48-lifeboat-choices/t3/)
- next →: [Lifeboat choices, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/48-lifeboat-choices/t5/)
- ↑ back to [Lifeboat choices](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/48-lifeboat-choices/)