---
title: In a cartoon, a lift cable snaps and the lift drops 50 floors. What… — Escalators and lifts · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon, a lift cable snaps and the lift drops 50 floors. What would really happen? Test 4 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.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/technology/26-escalators-and-lifts/t4/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Technology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/technology/) / [Escalators and lifts](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/technology/26-escalators-and-lifts/) / t4

# Test 4 · Escalators and lifts

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon, a lift cable snaps and the lift drops 50 floors. What would really happen?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** lift cable, lift · **What happens:** snap, drop, happen · **To what, where:** cartoon, 50 floors

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 of lesson 26 «Escalators and lifts» 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/26-escalators-and-lifts/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon, a lift cable snaps and the lift drops 50 floors.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:26-escalators-and-lifts:t4:1
# text = In a cartoon, a lift cable snaps and the lift drops 50 floors.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	lift	lift	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	cable	cable	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	snaps	snap	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	lift	lift	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	drops	drop	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
13	50	50	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	14	nummod	_	_
14	floors	floor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **snap** | present | a lift cable |  |  | a cartoon |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in cartoon=Location |
| 2 | **drop** | present | the lift | 50 floors |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent floor=Theme |

<!-- .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:* What would really happen?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:26-escalators-and-lifts:t4:2
# text = What would really happen?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	really	really	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	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 |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The same, lifts have no brakes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:26-escalators-and-lifts:t4:o1:1
# text = The same, lifts have no brakes
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	lifts	lift	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	7	det	_	_
7	brakes	brake	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | the same lifts | no brakes |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent brake=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The lift would float like a balloon

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:26-escalators-and-lifts:t4:o2:1
# text = The lift would float like a balloon
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	lift	lift	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	float	float	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	like	like	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	balloon	balloon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **float** | would | the lift |  |  |  |  | like a balloon | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Safety brakes would grip the rails and stop the car

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:26-escalators-and-lifts:t4:o3:1
# text = Safety brakes would grip the rails and stop 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	grip	grip	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	rails	rail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grip** | would | Safety brakes | the rails |  |  |  |  | vn touch-20-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rail=Theme |
| 2 | **stop** | infinitive | Safety brakes *not said here* | the car |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Subeventuality car=Eventuality |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The counterweight would pull it back up at once to the very top of the building

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:26-escalators-and-lifts:t4:o4:1
# text = The counterweight would pull it back up at once to the very top of the building
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	counterweight	counterweight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	pull	pull	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	back	back	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	up	up	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	4	obl	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	very	very	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	top	top	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	building	building	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pull** | would | the counterweight | it |  | the top of the building |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent it=Theme to top=Destination |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Escalators and lifts, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/technology/26-escalators-and-lifts/t3/)
- next →: [Escalators and lifts, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/technology/26-escalators-and-lifts/t5/)
- ↑ back to [Escalators and lifts](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/technology/26-escalators-and-lifts/)