---
title: What would happen if nobody in a town ever told the truth? — Why honesty matters: trust holds every… · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen if nobody in a town ever told the truth? Test 9 of lesson 81 «Why honesty matters: trust holds everything together» 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 9 · Why honesty matters: trust holds everything together

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen if nobody in a town ever told the truth?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** nobody · **What happens:** happen, tell · **To what, where:** truth · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 of lesson 81 «Why honesty matters: trust holds everything together» 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/81-why-honesty-matters-trust-holds-everything-together/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:81-why-honesty-matters-trust-holds-everything-together:t9:1
# text = What would happen if nobody in a town ever told the truth?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
5	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	10	nsubj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	10	advmod	_	_
10	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	truth	truth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* *a condition, not said to happen* | past | nobody | the truth |  |  | ever |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent truth=Recipient |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
People could not trust shops, doctors, friends or even road signs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:81-why-honesty-matters-trust-holds-everything-together:t9:o1:1
# text = People could not trust shops, doctors, friends or even road signs
1	People	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	trust	trust	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	shops	shop	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	doctors	doctor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	friends	friend	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	_
10	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	even	even	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	road	road	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	signs	sign	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **trust** | could | People | shops and doctors and friends or road signs |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shop=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Life would be much more fun and exciting, and nobody would ever get upset about anything at all

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:81-why-honesty-matters-trust-holds-everything-together:t9:o2:1
# text = Life would be much more fun and exciting, and nobody would ever get upset about anything at all
1	Life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	cop	_	_
4	much	much	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	amod	_	_
6	fun	fun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	exciting	exciting	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
11	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	14	nsubj	_	_
12	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
13	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	14	advmod	_	_
14	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	conj	_	_
15	upset	upset	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	xcomp	_	_
16	about	about	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	15	obl	_	_
18	at	at	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	17	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | would | Life | more fun |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | Life *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **get** | would | nobody |  |  |  | ever | upset *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only the shops would suffer, and everyone else would be fine

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:81-why-honesty-matters-trust-holds-everything-together:t9:o3:1
# text = Only the shops would suffer, and everyone else would be fine
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	shops	shop	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	suffer	suffer	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
8	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	12	nsubj	_	_
9	else	else	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
10	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
11	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	cop	_	_
12	fine	fine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **suffer** | would | the shops |  |  |  |  |  | vn marvel-31.3 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** | would | everyone |  |  |  |  | fine *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing would change, because people never listen anyway

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:81-why-honesty-matters-trust-holds-everything-together:t9:o4:1
# text = Nothing would change, because people never listen anyway
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	change	change	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
7	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	listen	listen	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
9	anyway	anyway	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **change** | would | Nothing |  |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **not** **listen** | present | people |  |  |  |  | anyway *property* | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |

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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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