---
title: Grandad: "Everyone talked about my burnt Christmas turkey in 1998. D… — The politician's either-or and the str… · tree and pragmatics
description: Grandad: "Everyone talked about my burnt Christmas turkey in 1998. Doesn't mean it was a great turkey." What does he show? Test 9 · ★ 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
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · The politician's either-or and the straw man

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Grandad: "Everyone talked about my burnt Christmas turkey in 1998. Doesn't mean it was a great turkey." What does he show?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Grandad, turkey · **What happens:** talk, not mean, be, show · **To what, where:** 1998, great turkey · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ 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/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Grandad: "Everyone talked about my burnt Christmas turkey in 1998.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t9:1
# text = Grandad: "Everyone talked about my burnt Christmas turkey in 1998.
1	Grandad	Grandad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	5	punct	_	_
3	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	Everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	5	nsubj	_	_
5	talked	talk	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	about	about	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
7	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
8	burnt	burnt	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
9	Christmas	Christmas	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	turkey	turkey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	1998	1998	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **talk** *in a quote* | past | Grandad |  |  | 1998 |  | about my burnt Christmas turkey | vn talk-37.5 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent about turkey=Topic |

<!-- .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:* Doesn't mean it was a great turkey."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t9:2
# text = Doesn't mean it was a great turkey."
1	Does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	turkey	turkey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **mean** | present · do-support |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | past | turkey | a great turkey |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What does he show?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t9:3
# text = What does he show?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	show	show	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present · do-support | Grandad |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent what=Recipient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Christmas plans never work out, so stop making them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t9:o1:1
# text = Christmas plans never work out, so stop making them
1	Christmas	Christmas	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	plans	plan	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	work	work	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	out	out	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	parataxis	_	_
9	making	make	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	xcomp	_	_
10	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **plan** | present | Christmas |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **not** **work out** *not said to happen* | infinitive | Christmas *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **stop** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 4 | **make** | gerund |  | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset they=Product |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Burnt turkey is the best kind of Christmas turkey

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t9:o2:1
# text = Burnt turkey is the best kind of Christmas turkey
1	Burnt	burnt	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	turkey	turkey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	6	amod	_	_
6	kind	kind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	Christmas	Christmas	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	turkey	turkey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Burnt turkey | the best kind |  |  |  | of Christmas turkey | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Being talked about doesn't make something good

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t9:o3:1
# text = Being talked about doesn't make something good
1	Being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	aux:pass	_	_
2	talked	talk	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	csubj	_	_
3	about	about	ADP	IN	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	6	obj	_	_
8	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **talk about** | gerund · passive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V» |
| 2 | **not** **make** | present · do-support |  | something |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset something=Product |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
People only ever talk about things that are good

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:t9:o4:1
# text = People only ever talk about things that are good
1	People	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
3	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	4	advmod	_	_
4	talk	talk	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	about	about	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
8	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **talk** | infinitive | People |  |  |  | ever | about things | vn talk-37.5 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent about thing=Topic |
| 2 | **is** | present | things |  |  |  |  | good *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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- ↑ 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/)