---
title: A kid says about "one small change and soon no rules at all": "Rules… — The politician's either-or and the str… · tree and pragmatics
description: A kid says about "one small change and soon no rules at all": "Rules aren't Jenga." What does the kid mean? Test 7 · ★ 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 and of each option
---

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# Test 7 · ★ · The politician's either-or and the straw man

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A kid says about "one small change and soon no rules at all": "Rules aren't Jenga." What does the kid mean?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** kid, Rules · **What happens:** say, not be, mean · **To what, where:** Jenga · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 7 · ★ 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/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A kid says about "one small change and soon no rules at all": "Rules aren't Jenga."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t7:1
# text = A kid says about "one small change and soon no rules at all": "Rules aren't Jenga."
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	kid	kid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	about	about	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
7	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	change	change	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	ccomp	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
10	soon	soon	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	12	advmod	_	_
11	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	12	det	_	_
12	rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	conj	_	_
13	at	at	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	21	punct	_	_
17	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	21	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	Rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	nsubj	_	_
19	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	21	advmod	_	_
21	Jenga	Jenga	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	21	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	21	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a kid |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **not** **is a** *in a quote* | present | Rules | Jenga |  |  |  |  | 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 does the kid mean?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t7:2
# text = What does the kid mean?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	obj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	kid	kid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	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 | the kid |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Changing any rule always ends in disaster

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t7:o1:1
# text = Changing any rule always ends in disaster
1	Changing	change	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	csubj	_	_
2	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	3	det	_	_
3	rule	rule	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	5	advmod	_	_
5	ends	end	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	disaster	disaster	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **change** | gerund |  | any rule |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rule=Patient |
| 2 | **end** | present | Changing |  |  | disaster |  | always *property* | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rules are really made of wooden blocks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t7:o2:1
# text = Rules are really made of wooden blocks
1	Rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	really	really	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	wooden	wooden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	blocks	block	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present · passive |  | Rules |  |  |  | of wooden blocks | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
One change doesn't topple everything unless each step has a reason

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t7:o3:1
# text = One change doesn't topple everything unless each step has a reason
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	change	change	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	topple	topple	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	everything	everything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	5	obj	_	_
7	unless	unless	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
8	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
9	step	step	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **topple** | present · do-support | One change | everything |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent everything=Patient |
| 2 | **have** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | each step | a reason |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Jenga is the only game that has rules

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t7:o4:1
# text = Jenga is the only game that has rules
1	Jenga	Jenga	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	only	only	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	game	game	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
8	rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Jenga | the only game |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **have** | present | the only game | rules |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rule=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.

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