---
title: Identify the principal error in the claim that a child is able to ho… — Bets, dares and silly reasons · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal error in the claim that a child is able to hold his breath for five minutes because his cousin is able to do so. Exam question 1 of lesson 169 «Bets, dares and silly reasons» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question 
---

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# Exam question 1 · Bets, dares and silly reasons

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal error in the claim that a child is able to hold his breath for five minutes because his cousin is able to do so.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, child, cousin · **What happens:** identify, be, hold, do · **To what, where:** principal error, claim, breath

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 169 «Bets, dares and silly reasons» of the world course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/169-bets-dares-and-silly-reasons/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:169-bets-dares-and-silly-reasons:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal error in the claim that a child is able to hold his breath for five minutes because his cousin is able to do so.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	error	error	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	claim	claim	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
12	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	advcl	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	hold	hold	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	_
15	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	breath	breath	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
17	for	for	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	19	nummod	_	_
19	minutes	minute	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	_
20	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
21	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	22	nmod:poss	_	_
22	cousin	cousin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	nsubj	_	_
23	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	24	cop	_	_
24	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	advcl	_	_
25	to	to	PART	TO	_	26	mark	_	_
26	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	24	xcomp	_	_
27	so	so	ADV	RB	_	26	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal error |  | the claim |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent error=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | a child |  |  |  |  | able *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **hold** | to-infinitive | a child *not said here* | child's breath |  |  | minute |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent breath=Theme |
| 4 | **is** | present | child's cousin |  |  |  |  | able *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **do** | to-infinitive | child's cousin *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Chocolate is an unsuitable stake

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:169-bets-dares-and-silly-reasons:e1:o1:1
# text = Chocolate is an unsuitable stake
1	Chocolate	chocolate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	unsuitable	unsuitable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	stake	stake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Chocolate | a unsuitable stake |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An ability of one person is wrongly transferred to another

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:169-bets-dares-and-silly-reasons:e1:o2:1
# text = An ability of one person is wrongly transferred to another
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ability	ability	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
7	wrongly	wrongly	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	transferred	transfer	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **transfer** | present · passive |  | a ability of one person | another |  |  | wrongly *property* | vn contribute-13.2-2 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: subject=Theme to another=Recipient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Five minutes is an insufficient duration

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:169-bets-dares-and-silly-reasons:e1:o3:1
# text = Five minutes is an insufficient duration
1	Five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	minutes	minute	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod:unmarked	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	insufficient	insufficient	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	duration	duration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | a insufficient duration |  |  | minute |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cousin is insufficiently related to the child

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:169-bets-dares-and-silly-reasons:e1:o4:1
# text = The cousin is insufficiently related to the child
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cousin	cousin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	insufficiently	insufficiently	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	related	related	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the cousin |  |  |  |  | to the child; insufficiently, related *property* | tree rules |

<!-- 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 -->

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- ← previous: [Bets, dares and silly reasons, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/169-bets-dares-and-silly-reasons/t11/)
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