---
title: Ascertain the consequence which would ensue were the hoisting cable… — Escalators and lifts · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the consequence which would ensue were the hoisting cable of a lift to fail. Exam question 2 of lesson 26 «Escalators and lifts» 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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# Exam question 2 · Escalators and lifts

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the consequence which would ensue were the hoisting cable of a lift to fail.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, consequence · **What happens:** ascertain, ensue, hoist, be, fail · **To what, where:** hoisting cable

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 26 «Escalators and lifts» of the technology course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/26-escalators-and-lifts/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:26-escalators-and-lifts:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the consequence which would ensue were the hoisting cable of a lift to fail.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	consequence	consequence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
4	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
5	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	ensue	ensue	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	acl:relcl	_	_
7	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	hoisting	hoist	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	amod	_	_
10	cable	cable	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	lift	lift	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	fail	fail	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **ensue** | would | the consequence |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **hoist** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is a** | past | the consequence | the hoisting cable |  |  |  | of a lift | tree rules |
| 5 | **fail** | to-infinitive | the consequence *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 car would descend unimpeded to the lowest level

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:26-escalators-and-lifts:e2:o1:1
# text = The car would descend unimpeded to the lowest level
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	descend	descend	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	unimpeded	unimped	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	xcomp	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	lowest	low	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	9	amod	_	_
9	level	level	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **descend** | would | the car |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **unimped** | participle | the car *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to the lowest level | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The car would be suspended by the air within the shaft

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:26-escalators-and-lifts:e2:o2:1
# text = The car would be suspended by the air within the shaft
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	suspended	suspend	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	within	within	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	shaft	shaft	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **suspend** | would · passive | the air | the car |  |  |  | within the shaft | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The car would ascend to the highest level

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:26-escalators-and-lifts:e2:o3:1
# text = The car would ascend to the highest level
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	ascend	ascend	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	highest	high	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	8	amod	_	_
8	level	level	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascend** | would | the car |  |  | the highest level |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to level=Initial\_Location |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Safety brakes would engage the guide rails and arrest the descent of the car

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:26-escalators-and-lifts:e2:o4:1
# text = Safety brakes would engage the guide rails and arrest the descent of the car
1	Safety	safety	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	brakes	brake	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	engage	engage	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	guide	guide	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	rails	rail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	arrest	arrest	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	descent	descent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **engage** | would | Safety brakes | the guide rails |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rail=Patient |
| 2 | **arrest** | present | Safety brakes *not said here* | the descent of the car |  |  |  |  | vn prosecute-33.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent descent=Patient |
| 3 | **descend** |  | the car |  |  |  |  |  | nom descent «event intransitive»: of=agent |

<!-- 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 -->

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- ← previous: [Escalators and lifts, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/technology/26-escalators-and-lifts/e1/)
- next →: [Escalators and lifts, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/technology/26-escalators-and-lifts/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Escalators and lifts](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/technology/26-escalators-and-lifts/)