---
title: Ava, in a museum: "So it's a leaky bucket that tells the time? Bussi… — Clocks before clocks: sundials, water… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ava, in a museum: "So it's a leaky bucket that tells the time? Bussin'." ("Bussin'" means really good.) What makes it work? Test 2 of lesson 122 «Clocks before clocks: sundials, water clocks, candles and hourglasses» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmati
---

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# Test 2 · Clocks before clocks: sundials, water clocks, candles and…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ava, in a museum: "So it's a leaky bucket that tells the time? Bussin'." ("Bussin'" means really good.) What makes it work?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** museum, leaky bucket, Bussin · **What happens:** be, tell, mean, make, work · **To what, where:** leaky bucket, museum · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 of lesson 122 «Clocks before clocks: sundials, water clocks, candles and hourglasses» of the world 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/world/122-clocks-before-clocks/#t2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Ava, in a museum: "So it's a leaky bucket that tells the time?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:122-clocks-before-clocks:t2:1
# text = Ava, in a museum: "So it's a leaky bucket that tells the time?
1	Ava	Ava	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	museum	museum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	13	punct	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	So	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	leaky	leaky	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	bucket	bucket	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	_
14	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	15	nsubj	_	_
15	tells	tell	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	acl:relcl	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | museum | a leaky bucket |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | present | a leaky bucket |  |  |  | time |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Bussin'."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:122-clocks-before-clocks:t2:2
# text = Bussin'."
1	Bussin	Bussin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* ("Bussin'" means really good.)

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:122-clocks-before-clocks:t2:3
# text = ("Bussin'" means really good.)
1	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	Bussin	Bussin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
6	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	really	really	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | Bussin |  |  |  |  | good *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 4:* What makes it work?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:122-clocks-before-clocks:t2:4
# text = What makes it work?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	nsubj	_	_
2	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	work	work	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present |  | museum |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **work** | infinitive | museum *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Someone pours in another cupful of water every single hour

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:122-clocks-before-clocks:t2:o1:1
# text = Someone pours in another cupful of water every single hour
1	Someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	nsubj	_	_
2	pours	pour	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	5	det	_	_
5	cupful	cupful	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
8	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	det	_	_
9	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	hour	hour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pour** | present | Someone |  |  | another cupful of water | hour |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Source |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The hole grows bigger every hour

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:122-clocks-before-clocks:t2:o2:1
# text = The hole grows bigger every hour
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	hole	hole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	grows	grow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	xcomp	_	_
5	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	hour	hour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | present | the hole |  |  |  | hour | big *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The water drips out at a steady speed past the marks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:122-clocks-before-clocks:t2:o3:1
# text = The water drips out at a steady speed past the marks
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	drips	drip	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	out	out	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	steady	steady	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	speed	speed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	past	past	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	marks	mark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drip out** | present | the water |  |  | a steady speed |  | past the marks | vn substance\_emission-43.4-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme past mark=Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The water gets heavier every hour

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:122-clocks-before-clocks:t2:o4:1
# text = The water gets heavier every hour
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	gets	get	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	heavier	heavy	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	xcomp	_	_
5	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	hour	hour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

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

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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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Clocks before clocks: sundials, water…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/122-clocks-before-clocks/t1/)
- next →: [Clocks before clocks: sundials, water…, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/122-clocks-before-clocks/t3/)
- ↑ back to [Clocks before clocks: sundials, water clocks, candles and hourglasses](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/122-clocks-before-clocks/)