---
title: Ellie's brother: "You tried it twice. That's not science, that's a v… — Loot boxes, streaks and the sunk cost · tree and pragmatics
description: Ellie's brother: "You tried it twice. That's not science, that's a vibe." What would a real test need? Test 5 · ★ of lesson 172 «Loot boxes, streaks and the sunk cost» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's cho
---

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# Test 5 · ★ · Loot boxes, streaks and the sunk cost

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ellie's brother: "You tried it twice. That's not science, that's a vibe." What would a real test need?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** brother, That · **What happens:** try, not be, be · **To what, where:** it, science, vibe

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★ of lesson 172 «Loot boxes, streaks and the sunk cost» 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/172-loot-boxes-streaks-and-the-sunk-cost/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Ellie's brother: "You tried it twice.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:172-loot-boxes-streaks-and-the-sunk-cost:t5:1
# text = Ellie's brother: "You tried it twice.
1	Ellie	Ellie	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	twice	twice	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** *in a quote* | past | Ellie's brother | it |  |  |  | twice *property* | vn try-61.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Eventuality |

<!-- .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:* That's not science, that's a vibe."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:172-loot-boxes-streaks-and-the-sunk-cost:t5:2
# text = That's not science, that's a vibe."
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	science	science	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	vibe	vibe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is a** | present | That | science |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | present | that | a vibe |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What would a real test need?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:172-loot-boxes-streaks-and-the-sunk-cost:t5:3
# text = What would a real test need?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	1	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
5	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	need	need	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Asking friends what they think

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:172-loot-boxes-streaks-and-the-sunk-cost:t5:o1:1
# text = Asking friends what they think
1	Asking	ask	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	friends	friend	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
3	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	obj	_	_
4	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	think	think	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | gerund |  |  | friends |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S»: agent=Agent friend=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **think** *speech: other* | present | friends *= friend* |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot what=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Two more tries at midnight

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:172-loot-boxes-streaks-and-the-sunk-cost:t5:o2:1
# text = Two more tries at midnight
1	Two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
2	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	amod	_	_
3	tries	try	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	midnight	midnight	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 -->
Hundreds of openings at different times, counted

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:172-loot-boxes-streaks-and-the-sunk-cost:t5:o3:1
# text = Hundreds of openings at different times, counted
1	Hundreds	hundred	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	openings	opening	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	counted	count	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **count** | participle · passive |  | Hundreds of openings at different times |  |  |  |  | vn multiply-108 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
One try at midnight, then one try at noon, and compare the two

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:172-loot-boxes-streaks-and-the-sunk-cost:t5:o4:1
# text = One try at midnight, then one try at noon, and compare the two
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	try	try	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj:outer	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	midnight	midnight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	8	advmod	_	_
7	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
8	try	try	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	appos	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	noon	noon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	compare	compare	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	13	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **compare** | infinitive | One try at midnight | the two |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent two=Patient |

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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 -->

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