---
title: A cousin in Canada: "Cats need nothing, eh? Mine needs a vet, a litt… — Fighting fair: no straw men, no moving… · tree and pragmatics
description: A cousin in Canada: "Cats need nothing, eh? Mine needs a vet, a litter tray and a toque in winter, bud." Joke aside, what is the point? Test 6 · ★★ of lesson 189 «Fighting fair: no straw men, no moving goalposts, no either-or» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree an
---

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# Test 6 · ★★ · Fighting fair: no straw men, no moving goalposts, no eithe…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A cousin in Canada: "Cats need nothing, eh? Mine needs a vet, a litter tray and a toque in winter, bud." Joke aside, what is the point?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Cats, Mine, you · **What happens:** need, joke, be · **To what, where:** nothing, vet, point

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★★ of lesson 189 «Fighting fair: no straw men, no moving goalposts, no either-or» 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/189-fighting-fair-no-straw-men-no-moving-goalposts-no-either-or/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A cousin in Canada: "Cats need nothing, eh?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:189-fighting-fair-no-straw-men-no-moving-goalposts-no-either-or:t6:1
# text = A cousin in Canada: "Cats need nothing, eh?
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cousin	cousin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	Canada	Canada	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	Cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
9	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
11	eh	eh	INTJ	UH	_	8	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** *in a quote* | present | Cats | nothing |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot nothing=Theme |

<!-- .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:* Mine needs a vet, a litter tray and a toque in winter, bud."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:189-fighting-fair-no-straw-men-no-moving-goalposts-no-either-or:t6:2
# text = Mine needs a vet, a litter tray and a toque in winter, bud."
1	Mine	my	PRON	PRP	Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	needs	need	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	vet	vet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	litter	litter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	tray	tray	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	appos	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	toque	toque	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
15	bud	bud	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | Mine | a vet |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot vet=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* Joke aside, what is the point?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:189-fighting-fair-no-straw-men-no-moving-goalposts-no-either-or:t6:3
# text = Joke aside, what is the point?
1	Joke	joke	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	aside	aside	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
4	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	7	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	point	point	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **joke** *speech: other* | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | aside *property* | vn chit\_chat-37.6 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | present |  | the point |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cats need woolly hats to live

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:189-fighting-fair-no-straw-men-no-moving-goalposts-no-either-or:t6:o1:1
# text = Cats need woolly hats to live
1	Cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	woolly	woolly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	hats	hat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	live	live	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | Cats | woolly hats |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **live** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | woolly hats *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dogs need no care at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:189-fighting-fair-no-straw-men-no-moving-goalposts-no-either-or:t6:o2:1
# text = Dogs need no care at all
1	Dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	care	care	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | Dogs | no care |  | all |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot care=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cats need daily care too

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:189-fighting-fair-no-straw-men-no-moving-goalposts-no-either-or:t6:o3:1
# text = Cats need daily care too
1	Cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	daily	daily	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	care	care	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	too	too	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** | present | Cats | daily care |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot care=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cats are worse pets than dogs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:189-fighting-fair-no-straw-men-no-moving-goalposts-no-either-or:t6:o4:1
# text = Cats are worse pets than dogs
1	Cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	worse	bad	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	amod	_	_
4	pets	pet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
5	than	than	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Cats | worse pets |  |  |  | than dogs | 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 -->

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