---
title: Why is a long spanner better than a short one for undoing a stiff nut? — Simple machines and how they help · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is a long spanner better than a short one for undoing a stiff nut? Test 4 · ★ of lesson 52 «Simple machines and how they help» 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 was wrong.
---

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# Test 4 · ★ · Simple machines and how they help

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is a long spanner better than a short one for undoing a stiff nut?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** long spanner, short one · **What happens:** be, undo · **To what, where:** stiff nut

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★ of lesson 52 «Simple machines and how they help» 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/52-simple-machines/#t4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:52-simple-machines:t4:1
# text = Why is a long spanner better than a short one for undoing a stiff nut?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	spanner	spanner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
11	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
12	undoing	undo	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	acl	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	stiff	stiff	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	nut	nut	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | a long spanner |  |  |  |  | than a short one; good *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **undo** | gerund | a short one *not said here* | a stiff nut |  |  |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nut=Patient |

<!-- .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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A long spanner removes friction from the nut

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:52-simple-machines:t4:o1:1
# text = A long spanner removes friction from the nut
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	spanner	spanner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	removes	remove	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	friction	friction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	nut	nut	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remove** | present | a long spanner | friction |  | the nut |  |  | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent friction=Theme from nut=Source |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
You push further from the nut, so you need less force

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:52-simple-machines:t4:o2:1
# text = You push further from the nut, so you need less force
1	You	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	push	push	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	further	far	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	2	advmod	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	nut	nut	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
9	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	need	need	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
11	less	less	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	12	amod	_	_
12	force	force	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **push** | present | You |  |  |  |  | from the nut; far *property* | vn split-23.2 «NP V PP.co-patient»: agent=Patient from nut=Co-Patient |
| 2 | **need** | present | you | less force |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot force=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A long spanner makes the nut smaller

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:52-simple-machines:t4:o3:1
# text = A long spanner makes the nut smaller
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	spanner	spanner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	nut	nut	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	smaller	small	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | a long spanner | the nut |  |  |  | small *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset nut=Product |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A long spanner is made of stronger metal

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:52-simple-machines:t4:o4:1
# text = A long spanner is made of stronger metal
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	spanner	spanner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	stronger	strong	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	8	amod	_	_
8	metal	metal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

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

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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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