---
title: Why do builders of old stone churches use arches over doors and wind… — Building strong things: bridges, tower… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why do builders of old stone churches use arches over doors and windows? Test 2 · ★★ 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 was wrong.
---

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# Test 2 · ★★ · Building strong things: bridges, towers and shapes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why do builders of old stone churches use arches over doors and windows?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** builders · **What happens:** use · **To what, where:** arches, doors

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This is test 2 · ★★ 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/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:86-building-strong-things:t2:1
# text = Why do builders of old stone churches use arches over doors and windows?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
3	builders	builder	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	churches	church	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
8	use	use	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	arches	arch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
10	over	over	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	doors	door	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	windows	window	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | present · do-support | builders of old stone churches | arches |  | doors and windows |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent arch=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Arches let more rain run off the walls

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:86-building-strong-things:t2:o1:1
# text = Arches let more rain run off the walls
1	Arches	arch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	let	let	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	amod	_	_
4	rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	run	run	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	xcomp	_	_
6	off	off	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	walls	wall	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **let** | present | Arches | more rain |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **run off** | participle | more rain *not said here* | the walls |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme wall=Trajectory |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stone is strong when stretched, and an arch stretches it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:86-building-strong-things:t2:o2:1
# text = Stone is strong when stretched, and an arch stretches it
1	Stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	5	mark	_	_
5	stretched	stretch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
8	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	arch	arch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	stretches	stretch	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Stone |  |  |  |  | strong *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **stretch** | participle | Stone *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn bend-45.2 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **stretch** | present | a arch | Stone |  |  |  |  | vn bend-45.2 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent it=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stone is strong when squashed, and an arch squeezes its stones

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:86-building-strong-things:t2:o3:1
# text = Stone is strong when squashed, and an arch squeezes its stones
1	Stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
5	squashed	squash	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
8	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	arch	arch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	squeezes	squeeze	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
11	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	stones	stone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Stone |  |  |  |  | strong *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **squash** | participle | Stone *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn bump-18.4-1 «NP V together»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **squeeze** | present | a arch | arch's stones |  |  |  |  | vn push-12-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stone=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Arches use more stone, so they look grander

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:86-building-strong-things:t2:o4:1
# text = Arches use more stone, so they look grander
1	Arches	arch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	use	use	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	amod	_	_
4	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	look	look	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
9	grander	grand	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	8	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | present | Arches | more stone |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stone=Patient |
| 2 | **look** | present | Arches *= arch* |  |  |  |  | grand *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

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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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- ← previous: [Building strong things: bridges, tower…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/86-building-strong-things/t1/)
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