---
title: Uncle from Boston: "That guy's wicked salty. He says she wants no ar… — The politician's either-or and the str… · tree and pragmatics
description: Uncle from Boston: "That guy's wicked salty. He says she wants no army at all. She said a bit less!" Who is reasoning fairly? Test 4 · ★ of lesson 178 «The politician's either-or and the straw man» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question 
---

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# Test 4 · ★ · The politician's either-or and the straw man

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Uncle from Boston: "That guy's wicked salty. He says she wants no army at all. She said a bit less!" Who is reasoning fairly?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** guy, Boston · **What happens:** say, want, reason · **To what, where:** army, all · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★ of lesson 178 «The politician's either-or and the straw man» 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/178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Uncle from Boston: "That guy's wicked salty.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t4:1
# text = Uncle from Boston: "That guy's wicked salty.
1	Uncle	uncle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	from	from	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	Boston	Boston	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	7	det	_	_
7	guy	guy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	wicked	wicked	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	salty	salty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* He says she wants no army at all.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t4:2
# text = He says she wants no army at all.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
5	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	6	det	_	_
6	army	army	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | guy |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **want** | present | Boston | no army |  | all |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot army=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* She said a bit less!"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t4:3
# text = She said a bit less!"
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl:unmarked	_	_
5	less	less	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Boston |  |  |  |  | less *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 4:* Who is reasoning fairly?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t4:4
# text = Who is reasoning fairly?
1	Who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	reasoning	reason	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	fairly	fairly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reason** | present · progressive |  |  |  |  |  | fairly *property* | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The guy; he is angrier, so he must be right

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t4:o1:1
# text = The guy; he is angrier, so he must be right
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	guy	guy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	2	punct	_	_
4	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	angrier	angry	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
10	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
11	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	cop	_	_
12	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the guy |  |  |  |  | angry *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | must | he |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nobody; you can never know what she really said

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t4:o2:1
# text = Nobody; you can never know what she really said
1	Nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	6	punct	_	_
3	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	conj	_	_
7	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	10	obj	_	_
8	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
9	really	really	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **know** | can | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | she |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The guy; "a bit less" really means none at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t4:o3:1
# text = The guy; "a bit less" really means none at all
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	guy	guy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
7	less	less	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
9	really	really	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	none	none	PRON	NN	PronType=Neg	10	obj	_	_
12	at	at	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	11	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | the guy | none |  | all |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent none=Topic |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The uncle; he repeats what she really said

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t4:o4:1
# text = The uncle; he repeats what she really said
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	uncle	uncle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	repeats	repeat	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	9	obj	_	_
7	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
8	really	really	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **repeat** | present | the uncle |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | she |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

<!-- 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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- ↑ back to [The politician's either-or and the straw man](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man/)