---
title: What would happen if a train driver fainted at the controls? — Trains and the Underground · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen if a train driver fainted at the controls? Test 3 of lesson 21 «Trains and the Underground» of the technology 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 3 · Trains and the Underground

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen if a train driver fainted at the controls?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** train driver · **What happens:** happen, faint

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 of lesson 21 «Trains and the Underground» of the technology 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/technology/21-trains-and-the-underground/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:21-trains-and-the-underground:t3:1
# text = What would happen if a train driver fainted at the controls?
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	_	8	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	train	train	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	driver	driver	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	fainted	faint	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	controls	control	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	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 | **faint** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | a train driver |  |  |  |  | at the controls | vn change\_bodily\_state-40.8.4 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer at control=Stimulus |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The train would keep going until it ran out of track

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:21-trains-and-the-underground:t3:o1:1
# text = The train would keep going until it ran out of track
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	train	train	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	going	go	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	xcomp	_	_
6	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	ran	run	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
9	out	out	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	track	track	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | would | the train |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **go** | gerund | the train *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **run** | past | train |  |  | track |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme out track=Trajectory |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Passengers would have to take turns steering it to the next station

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:21-trains-and-the-underground:t3:o2:1
# text = Passengers would have to take turns steering it to the next station
1	Passengers	passenger	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	turns	turn	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
7	steering	steer	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	next	next	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	station	station	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | would | Passengers |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **take** | to-infinitive | Passengers *not said here* | turns |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent turn=Theme |
| 3 | **steer** | gerund | Passengers *not said here* | it |  | the next station |  |  | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent it=Theme to station=Destination |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He would stop pressing the safety pedal, so the train would brake

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:21-trains-and-the-underground:t3:o3:1
# text = He would stop pressing the safety pedal, so the train would brake
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	pressing	press	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	xcomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	safety	safety	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	pedal	pedal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	train	train	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
12	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	brake	break	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stop** | would | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **press** | gerund | He *not said here* | the safety pedal |  |  |  |  | vn push-12-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pedal=Theme |
| 3 | **break** | would | the train |  |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The signals would keep turning green to help

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:21-trains-and-the-underground:t3:o4:1
# text = The signals would keep turning green to help
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	signals	signal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	turning	turn	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	xcomp	_	_
6	green	green	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | would | the signals |  |  |  |  | green *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **turn** | gerund | the signals *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **help** | to-infinitive | the signals *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «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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- ← previous: [Trains and the Underground, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/technology/21-trains-and-the-underground/t2/)
- next →: [Trains and the Underground, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/technology/21-trains-and-the-underground/t4/)
- ↑ back to [Trains and the Underground](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/technology/21-trains-and-the-underground/)