---
title: Big sister: "Josh, 'I'll think about it' is the oldest trick in the… — The whole class punished, and "you did… · tree and pragmatics
description: Big sister: "Josh, 'I'll think about it' is the oldest trick in the book." What trick does she mean? Test 10 of lesson 168 «The whole class punished, and "you didn't say no"» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mov
---

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# Test 10 · The whole class punished, and "you didn't say no"

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Big sister: "Josh, 'I'll think about it' is the oldest trick in the book." What trick does she mean?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** I, Big sister, trick · **What happens:** think, be, mean · **To what, where:** oldest trick, book

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 of lesson 168 «The whole class punished, and "you didn't say no"» 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/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/#t10).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Big sister: "Josh, 'I'll think about it' is the oldest trick in the book."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no:t10:1
# text = Big sister: "Josh, 'I'll think about it' is the oldest trick in the book."
1	Big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	sister	sister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	5	punct	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	Josh	Josh	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	'll	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	parataxis	_	_
11	about	about	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	oldest	old	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	17	amod	_	_
17	trick	trick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	17	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* *in a quote* | future | I |  |  |  |  | about it | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent about it=Topic |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | Big sister  Josh | the oldest trick |  | the book |  |  | 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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What trick does she mean?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no:t10:2
# text = What trick does she mean?
1	What	what	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	trick	trick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Hiding all your toys under the bed so the room looks tidy from the door

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no:t10:o1:1
# text = Hiding all your toys under the bed so the room looks tidy from the door
1	Hiding	hide	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	11	csubj	_	_
2	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	4	det:predet	_	_
3	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	toys	toy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
5	under	under	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	bed	bed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
8	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	room	room	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
11	looks	look	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	tidy	tidy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	xcomp	_	_
13	from	from	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	door	door	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hide** | gerund |  | your toys |  | the bed |  | so the room | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent toy=Patient under bed=Location |
| 2 | **look** | present | Hiding |  |  |  |  | from the door; tidy *property* | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent from door=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Tidying only half the room

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no:t10:o2:1
# text = Tidying only half the room
1	Tidying	tidy	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	half	half	DET	PDT	NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac|PronType=Ind	5	det:predet	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	room	room	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tidy** | gerund |  | half room |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Using vague words so you never really promise

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no:t10:o3:1
# text = Using vague words so you never really promise
1	Using	use	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	0	root	_	_
2	vague	vague	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
4	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
6	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
7	really	really	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	promise	promise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | gerund |  | vague words |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Patient |
| 2 | **not** **promise** *speech: promise* | infinitive | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn promise-37.13 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Thinking very slowly on purpose

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no:t10:o4:1
# text = Thinking very slowly on purpose
1	Thinking	think	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	very	very	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | on purpose; slowly *property* | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent on purpose=Topic |

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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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