---
title: my brother reckons tall towers are hardest to tip if heavy stuff's a… — Building strong things: bridges, tower… · tree and pragmatics
description: my brother reckons tall towers are hardest to tip if heavy stuff's at the top. right? Test 13 · ★★ of lesson 86 «Building strong things: bridges, towers and shapes» 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 13 · ★★ · Building strong things: bridges, towers and shapes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
my brother reckons tall towers are hardest to tip if heavy stuff's at the top. right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** brother, tall towers, heavy stuff · **What happens:** reckon, be, tip · **To what, where:** top

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 13 · ★★ of lesson 86 «Building strong things: bridges, towers and shapes» 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/86-building-strong-things/#t13).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:86-building-strong-things:t13:1
# text = my brother reckons tall towers are hardest to tip if heavy stuff's at the top. right?
1	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	reckons	reckon	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	tall	tall	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	towers	tower	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
6	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	hardest	hard	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	3	obj	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	tip	tip	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
11	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	stuff	stuff	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
14	at	at	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	top	top	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
18	right	right	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reckon** | present | my brother |  |  |  |  | right *property* | vn consider-29.9-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | tall towers |  |  |  |  | hard *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **tip** | to-infinitive | tall towers *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | heavy stuff |  |  | the top |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
No, weight makes no difference to tipping

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:86-building-strong-things:t13:o1:1
# text = No, weight makes no difference to tipping
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	weight	weight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	6	det	_	_
6	difference	difference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	tipping	tipping	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | weight | no difference |  |  |  | to tipping | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset difference=Product |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, heavy stuff at the top pushes the tower down and holds it firm

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:86-building-strong-things:t13:o2:1
# text = Yes, heavy stuff at the top pushes the tower down and holds it firm
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	stuff	stuff	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	top	top	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	pushes	push	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	tower	tower	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	down	down	ADP	RP	_	8	compound:prt	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	holds	hold	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
14	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	_
15	firm	firm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **push down** | present | heavy stuff at the top | the tower |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tower=Theme |
| 2 | **hold** | present | heavy stuff at the top *not said here* | tower |  |  |  | firm *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, a wide base and weight low down make things hard to tip

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:86-building-strong-things:t13:o3:1
# text = No, a wide base and weight low down make things hard to tip
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	10	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	wide	wide	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	base	base	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	weight	weight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
8	low	low	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	10	advmod	_	_
9	down	down	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
11	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
12	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	xcomp	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	tip	tip	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | infinitive | a wide base and weight | things |  |  |  | down, hard, low *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset thing=Product |
| 2 | **tip** | to-infinitive | things *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, but only in strong winds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:86-building-strong-things:t13:o4:1
# text = Yes, but only in strong winds
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	7	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	winds	wind	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

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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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