---
title: The teacher: "Mercury: a metal, and runny. Don't touch it, it's pois… — One counterexample is enough · tree and pragmatics
description: The teacher: "Mercury: a metal, and runny. Don't touch it, it's poisonous." Which claim does mercury break? Test 11 · ★ of lesson 187 «One counterexample is enough» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice
---

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# Test 11 · ★ · One counterexample is enough

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The teacher: "Mercury: a metal, and runny. Don't touch it, it's poisonous." Which claim does mercury break?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, teacher, claim · **What happens:** not touch, be, break · **To what, where:** teacher

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★ of lesson 187 «One counterexample is enough» 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/187-one-counterexample-is-enough/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* The teacher: "Mercury: a metal, and runny.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:187-one-counterexample-is-enough:t11:1
# text = The teacher: "Mercury: a metal, and runny.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	5	punct	_	_
4	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	Mercury	Mercury	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	metal	metal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	runny	runny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

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

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Don't touch it, it's poisonous."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:187-one-counterexample-is-enough:t11:2
# text = Don't touch it, it's poisonous."
1	Do	do	AUX	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	touch	touch	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	poisonous	poisonous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	advcl	_	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** **touch** | imperative · do-support | you *not said here* | teacher |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme it=Co-Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | teacher |  |  |  |  | poisonous *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* Which claim does mercury break?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:187-one-counterexample-is-enough:t11:3
# text = Which claim does mercury break?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	claim	claim	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	mercury	mercury	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	break	break	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 | **break** | present · do-support | which claim |  |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"All metals are shiny"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:187-one-counterexample-is-enough:t11:o1:1
# text = "All metals are shiny"
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	All	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	3	det	_	_
3	metals	metal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	shiny	shiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | present | all metals |  |  |  |  | shiny *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"Metals carry electricity"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:187-one-counterexample-is-enough:t11:o2:1
# text = "Metals carry electricity"
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Metals	metal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	carry	carry	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	electricity	electricity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **carry** *in a quote* | present | Metals | electricity |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent electricity=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"Metals are found in rocks"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:187-one-counterexample-is-enough:t11:o3:1
# text = "Metals are found in rocks"
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Metals	metal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	found	find	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	rocks	rock	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **find** *in a quote* | present · passive |  | Metals |  | rocks |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"All metals are hard"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:187-one-counterexample-is-enough:t11:o4:1
# text = "All metals are hard"
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	All	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	3	det	_	_
3	metals	metal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | present | all metals |  |  |  |  | hard *property* | tree rules |

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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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [One counterexample is enough, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/187-one-counterexample-is-enough/t10/)
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