---
title: Why can a crane drop scrap metal with an electromagnet but not with… — Magnets · tree and pragmatics
description: Why can a crane drop scrap metal with an electromagnet but not with a bar magnet? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 81 «Magnets» 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 9 · ★ · Magnets

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why can a crane drop scrap metal with an electromagnet but not with a bar magnet?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 81 «Magnets» 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/81-magnets/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:81-magnets:t9:1
# text = Why can a crane drop scrap metal with an electromagnet but not with a bar magnet?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
4	crane	crane	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	drop	drop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	scrap	scrap	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	metal	metal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	electromagnet	electromagnet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
11	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
12	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	16	advmod	_	_
13	with	with	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	bar	bar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	_
16	magnet	magnet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The electromagnet can be switched off

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:81-magnets:t9:o1:1
# text = The electromagnet can be switched off
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	electromagnet	electromagnet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	switched	switch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	off	off	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **switch off** | can · passive |  | the electromagnet |  |  |  |  | vn convert-26.6.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The bar magnet is too weak to lift anything

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:81-magnets:t9:o2:1
# text = The bar magnet is too weak to lift anything
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	bar	bar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	magnet	magnet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	too	too	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	weak	weak	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	lift	lift	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	advcl	_	_
9	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the bar magnet |  |  |  |  | weak *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **lift** | to-infinitive | the bar magnet *not said here* | anything |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent anything=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The bar magnet melts the metal

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:81-magnets:t9:o3:1
# text = The bar magnet melts the metal
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	bar	bar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	magnet	magnet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	melts	melt	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	metal	metal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **melt** | present | the bar magnet | the metal |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Patient metal=Result |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The electromagnet repels steel

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:81-magnets:t9:o4:1
# text = The electromagnet repels steel
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	electromagnet	electromagnet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	repels	repel	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	steel	steel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **repel** | present | the electromagnet | steel |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus steel=Experiencer |

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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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