---
title: Identify the fallacy committed where a speaker asserts that only two… — The politician's either-or and the str… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the fallacy committed where a speaker asserts that only two courses of action exist, one of which is catastrophic, notwithstanding the existence of further alternatives. Exam question 1 of lesson 178 «The politician's either-or and the straw man» of the world course of Mova's primary school
---

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# Exam question 1 · The politician's either-or and the straw man

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the fallacy committed where a speaker asserts that only two courses of action exist, one of which is catastrophic, notwithstanding the existence of further alternatives.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, fallacy, two courses, further alternatives · **What happens:** identify, commit, assert, exist, be, notwithstand · **To what, where:** one, existence

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This is exam question 1 of lesson 178 «The politician's either-or and the straw man» 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/178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:e1:1
# text = Identify the fallacy committed where a speaker asserts that only two courses of action exist, one of which is catastrophic, notwithstanding the existence of further alternatives.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	fallacy	fallacy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
4	committed	commit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	advcl	_	_
5	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	8	advmod	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	speaker	speaker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	asserts	assert	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl:relcl	_	_
9	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
10	only	only	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	nummod	_	_
12	courses	course	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nsubj	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	action	action	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
15	exist	exist	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
17	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	15	obj	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	21	obl	_	_
20	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
21	catastrophic	catastrophic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
23	notwithstanding	notwithstand	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	15	advcl	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	existence	existence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obj	_	_
26	of	of	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	further	further	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	28	amod	_	_
28	alternatives	alternative	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	25	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn empathize-88.2 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **commit** | participle | the fallacy *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **assert** | present | the fallacy |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **exist** | present | two courses of action | one |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | catastrophic *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **notwithstand** | gerund | two courses of action *not said here* | the existence of further alternatives |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 7 | **exist** |  | further alternatives |  |  |  |  |  | nom existence «state intransitive»: of=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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A red herring

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:e1:o1:1
# text = A red herring
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	red	red	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	herring	herring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A false dilemma

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:e1:o2:1
# text = A false dilemma
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	false	false	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	dilemma	dilemma	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An appeal to tradition

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:e1:o3:1
# text = An appeal to tradition
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	appeal	appeal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	tradition	tradition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A straw man

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:e1:o4:1
# text = A straw man
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	straw	straw	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

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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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