---
title: «pen stopped working, prob cos I was writing on the ceiling lying in… — Pencils, paper and school things · tree and pragmatics
description: «pen stopped working, prob cos I was writing on the ceiling lying in bed» What is the reason? Test 3 of lesson 6 «Pencils, paper and school things» 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 · Pencils, paper and school things

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«pen stopped working, prob cos I was writing on the ceiling lying in bed» What is the reason?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** pen, I · **What happens:** stop, work, write, lie, be · **To what, where:** prob, ceiling, bed, reason

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 of lesson 6 «Pencils, paper and school things» 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/6-pencils-paper-and-school-things/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:6-pencils-paper-and-school-things:t3:1
# text = «pen stopped working, prob cos I was writing on the ceiling lying in bed» What is the reason?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	pen	pen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	stopped	stop	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	advcl	_	_
4	working	work	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	prob	prob	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
8	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	writing	write	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
11	on	on	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	ceiling	ceiling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
14	lying	lie	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	10	conj	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	bed	bed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
18	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	21	nsubj	_	_
19	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	21	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stop** *in a quote* | past | pen |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **work** *in a quote* | gerund | pen *not said here* | prob |  |  |  |  | vn knead-26.5 «NP V NP.material»: agent=Agent prob=Material |
| 3 | **write** *in a quote* | past · progressive | I |  |  | the ceiling |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent on ceiling=Destination |
| 4 | **lie** *in a quote* | gerund | I *not said here* |  |  | bed |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in bed=Location |
| 5 | **is a** | present |  | the reason |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 pen got too cold in bed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:6-pencils-paper-and-school-things:t3:o1:1
# text = The pen got too cold in bed
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pen	pen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	too	too	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	bed	bed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | past | the pen |  |  | bed |  | cold *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ink must flow down to the ball, and upside down it can't

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:6-pencils-paper-and-school-things:t3:o2:1
# text = Ink must flow down to the ball, and upside down it can't
1	Ink	ink	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	flow	flow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	down	down	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	ball	ball	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	upside	upside	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
11	down	down	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **flow down** | must | Ink | upside |  |  |  | to the ball; down *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ceilings soak up all the ink

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:6-pencils-paper-and-school-things:t3:o3:1
# text = Ceilings soak up all the ink
1	Ceilings	ceiling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	soak	soak	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	up	up	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	6	det:predet	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	ink	ink	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **soak up** | present | Ceilings | all ink |  |  |  |  | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1 «NP V NP.source»: agent=Agent ink=Source |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The little ball melts when the pen is held upside down for long

```conllu
# sent_id = question:technology:6-pencils-paper-and-school-things:t3:o4:1
# text = The little ball melts when the pen is held upside down for long
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	ball	ball	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	melts	melt	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	9	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	pen	pen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	held	hold	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	ccomp	_	_
10	upside	upside	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
11	down	down	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
12	for	for	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **melt** | present | the little ball |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **hold down** | present · passive |  | the pen |  |  |  | down *property* | vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V NP to be NP»: subject=Theme upside=Eventuality |

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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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