---
title: Which statement about the trolley problem is true? — Lifeboat choices · tree and pragmatics
description: Which statement about the trolley problem is true? Test 9 · ★★ 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 9 · ★★ · Lifeboat choices

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which statement about the trolley problem is true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** statement · **What happens:** be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★★ 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/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:48-lifeboat-choices:t9:1
# text = Which statement about the trolley problem is true?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
3	about	about	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	trolley	trolley	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	problem	problem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | which statement about the trolley problem |  |  |  |  | true *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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Everyone agrees you must always pull the lever and save the five

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:48-lifeboat-choices:t9:o1:1
# text = Everyone agrees you must always pull the lever and save the five
1	Everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	2	nsubj	_	_
2	agrees	agree	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	6	advmod	_	_
6	pull	pull	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	ccomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	lever	lever	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	save	save	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	conj	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **agree** *speech: agree* | present | Everyone |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **pull** | must | you | the lever |  |  |  | always *property* | vn push-12-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lever=Theme |
| 3 | **save** | infinitive | you *not said here* | the five |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent five=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was solved long ago and nobody discusses it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:48-lifeboat-choices:t9:o2:1
# text = It was solved long ago and nobody discusses it
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	solved	solve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	5	advmod	_	_
5	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	8	nsubj	_	_
8	discusses	discuss	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **solve** | past · passive |  | It |  |  |  | ago *property* | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic |
| 2 | **discuss** *speech: other* | present | nobody | it |  |  |  |  | vn chit\_chat-37.6-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Everyone agrees you must never pull the lever

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:48-lifeboat-choices:t9:o3:1
# text = Everyone agrees you must never pull the lever
1	Everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	2	nsubj	_	_
2	agrees	agree	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	pull	pull	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	ccomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	lever	lever	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **agree** *speech: agree* | present | Everyone |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **not** **pull** | must | you | the lever |  |  |  |  | vn push-12-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lever=Theme |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
People still disagree about it, and it is a disputed question

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:48-lifeboat-choices:t9:o4:1
# text = People still disagree about it, and it is a disputed question
1	People	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	still	still	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	disagree	disagree	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	about	about	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	disputed	dispute	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	amod	_	_
12	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **disagree** | present | People |  |  |  | still | about it | vn correspond-36.1 «NP V PP.theme S»: agent=Agent about it=Topic |
| 2 | **dispute** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn battle-36.4 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is a** | present | it | a disputed question |  |  |  |  | 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Lifeboat choices, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/48-lifeboat-choices/t8/)
- next →: [Lifeboat choices, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/48-lifeboat-choices/t10/)
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