---
title: A wise judge asks: «Why might people in some places die younger, and… — Getting old: how long people and anima… · tree and pragmatics
description: A wise judge asks: «Why might people in some places die younger, and what could be done?» Best answer? Test 9 of lesson 52 «Getting old: how long people and animals live» of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each optio
---

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# Test 9 · Getting old: how long people and animals live

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A wise judge asks: «Why might people in some places die younger, and what could be done?» Best answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** wise judge, people · **What happens:** ask, die, do · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 of lesson 52 «Getting old: how long people and animals live» 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/52-getting-old-how-long-people-and-animals-live/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A wise judge asks: «Why might people in some places die younger, and what could be done?»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:52-getting-old-how-long-people-and-animals-live:t9:1
# text = A wise judge asks: «Why might people in some places die younger, and what could be done?»
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	wise	wise	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	judge	judge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	asks	ask	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	4	punct	_	_
6	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	13	advmod	_	_
8	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
9	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	12	det	_	_
12	places	place	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod	_	_
13	die	die	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
14	younger	young	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	13	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
17	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	20	obj	_	_
18	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
19	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	20	aux:pass	_	_
20	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	20	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | present | a wise judge |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **die** *in a quote* | might | people in some places |  |  |  |  | young *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 3 | **do** *in a quote* | could · passive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: what=Eventuality |

<!-- .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:* Best answer?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:52-getting-old-how-long-people-and-animals-live:t9:2
# text = Best answer?
1	Best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	2	amod	_	_
2	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Short lives are always the people's own fault

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:52-getting-old-how-long-people-and-animals-live:t9:o1:1
# text = Short lives are always the people's own fault
1	Short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	lives	life	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	fault	fault	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Short lives |  |  |  |  | always *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **fault** |  | the people |  |  |  |  |  | nom fault «act transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Poverty and war harm health; people can help with clean water, food and doctors

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:52-getting-old-how-long-people-and-animals-live:t9:o2:1
# text = Poverty and war harm health; people can help with clean water, food and doctors
1	Poverty	Poverty	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
3	war	war	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	harm	harm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
5	health	health	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
7	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
8	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl:relcl	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	clean	clean	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	doctors	doctor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **help** | can | people | Poverty health *not said here* |  |  |  | with clean water and food and doctors | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent health=Beneficiary with water=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Long lives come only from luck, so helping is pointless

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:52-getting-old-how-long-people-and-animals-live:t9:o3:1
# text = Long lives come only from luck, so helping is pointless
1	Long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	lives	life	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	come	come	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	luck	luck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	helping	help	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
11	pointless	pointless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | present | Long lives |  |  | luck |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from luck=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **help** | gerund | Long lives *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** | present | Long lives *not said here* |  |  |  |  | pointless *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Some people are simply born weaker, and nothing can be done

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:52-getting-old-how-long-people-and-animals-live:t9:o4:1
# text = Some people are simply born weaker, and nothing can be done
1	Some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	2	det	_	_
2	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	simply	simply	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	weaker	weak	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
9	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
11	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bear** | present · passive |  | some people |  |  |  | simply, weak *property* | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **do** | can · passive |  | nothing |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality |

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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 -->

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- ↑ back to [Getting old: how long people and animals live](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/52-getting-old-how-long-people-and-animals-live/)