---
title: why push a heavy box up a ramp not just lift it — Simple machines and how they help · tree and pragmatics
description: why push a heavy box up a ramp not just lift it Test 9 · ★ 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 right.
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · Simple machines and how they help

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
why push a heavy box up a ramp not just lift it

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** push, not lift · **To what, where:** heavy box, ramp, box

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This is test 9 · ★ 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/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:52-simple-machines:t9:1
# text = why push a heavy box up a ramp not just lift it
1	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	_
2	push	push	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	box	box	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	up	up	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	ramp	ramp	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
10	just	just	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	lift	lift	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **push** | imperative | you *not said here* | a heavy box |  | a ramp |  |  | vn funnel-9.3-1-1 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent box=Theme up ramp=Trajectory |
| 2 | **not** **lift** | infinitive | you *not said here* | box |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ramp saves both force and distance at the same time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:52-simple-machines:t9:o1:1
# text = The ramp saves both force and distance at the same time
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ramp	ramp	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	saves	save	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	det	_	_
5	force	force	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	distance	distance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **save** | present | the ramp | both force and distance |  |  | time |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent force=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ramp needs less force but a longer path

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:52-simple-machines:t9:o2:1
# text = The ramp needs less force but a longer path
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ramp	ramp	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	needs	need	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	less	less	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	amod	_	_
5	force	force	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	longer	long	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	9	amod	_	_
9	path	path	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ramp pulls the box up itself

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:52-simple-machines:t9:o3:1
# text = The ramp pulls the box up itself
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ramp	ramp	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	pulls	pull	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	box	box	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	up	up	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
7	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pull up** | present | the ramp | the box |  |  |  | ramp *obl* | vn push-12-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent box=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ramp makes the box lighter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:52-simple-machines:t9:o4:1
# text = The ramp makes the box lighter
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ramp	ramp	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	box	box	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	lighter	light	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	xcomp	_	_
```

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