---
title: In the book Toad offers to steer the barge instead of washing. What… — Rivers, canals and boats: locks, weirs… · tree and pragmatics
description: In the book Toad offers to steer the barge instead of washing. What steers a barge? Test 3 · ★★ of lesson 41 «Rivers, canals and boats: locks, weirs, water-mills, barges and how not to tip a rowing boat» of the technology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of th
---

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# Test 3 · ★★ · Rivers, canals and boats: locks, weirs, water-mills, barge…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In the book Toad offers to steer the barge instead of washing. What steers a barge?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Toad · **What happens:** offer, steer, wash · **To what, where:** book, barge

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★★ of lesson 41 «Rivers, canals and boats: locks, weirs, water-mills, barges and how not to tip a rowing boat» 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/41-rivers-canals-and-boats-locks-weirs-water-mills-barges-and-how-not-to-tip-a-rowing-boat/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In the book Toad offers to steer the barge instead of washing.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:41-rivers-canals-and-boats-locks-weirs-water-mills-barges-and-how-not-to-tip-a-rowing-boat:t3:1
# text = In the book Toad offers to steer the barge instead of washing.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
4	Toad	Toad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	offers	offer	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	steer	steer	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	barge	barge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	instead	instead	ADV	RB	ExtPos=SCONJ	12	mark	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	fixed	_	_
12	washing	wash	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **offer** | present | Toad |  |  | the book |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **steer** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Toad *not said here* | the barge |  |  |  |  | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent barge=Theme |
| 3 | **wash** | gerund | Toad *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn floss-41.2.1 «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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What steers a barge?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:41-rivers-canals-and-boats-locks-weirs-water-mills-barges-and-how-not-to-tip-a-rowing-boat:t3:2
# text = What steers a barge?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	nsubj	_	_
2	steers	steer	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	barge	barge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **steer** | present |  | a barge |  |  |  |  | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent barge=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The horse's reins

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:41-rivers-canals-and-boats-locks-weirs-water-mills-barges-and-how-not-to-tip-a-rowing-boat:t3:o1:1
# text = The horse's reins
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	reins	rein	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A steering wheel on the roof

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:41-rivers-canals-and-boats-locks-weirs-water-mills-barges-and-how-not-to-tip-a-rowing-boat:t3:o2:1
# text = A steering wheel on the roof
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	steering	steering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	wheel	wheel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	roof	roof	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The tiller at the back

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:41-rivers-canals-and-boats-locks-weirs-water-mills-barges-and-how-not-to-tip-a-rowing-boat:t3:o3:1
# text = The tiller at the back
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	tiller	tiller	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	back	back	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The oars at the front

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:41-rivers-canals-and-boats-locks-weirs-water-mills-barges-and-how-not-to-tip-a-rowing-boat:t3:o4:1
# text = The oars at the front
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	oars	oar	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	front	front	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

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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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