---
title: In a town, children who own more books get better marks. What could… — Being a scientist — fair tests, guesse… · tree and pragmatics
description: In a town, children who own more books get better marks. What could explain this other than the books themselves? Test 7 · ★★★ of lesson 91 «Being a scientist — fair tests, guesses and evidence» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and
---

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# Test 7 · ★★★ · Being a scientist — fair tests, guesses and evidence

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a town, children who own more books get better marks. What could explain this other than the books themselves?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** children · **What happens:** own, get, explain · **To what, where:** more books, better marks, town, other

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★★★ of lesson 91 «Being a scientist — fair tests, guesses and evidence» 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/91-being-a-scientist/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a town, children who own more books get better marks.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:91-being-a-scientist:t7:1
# text = In a town, children who own more books get better marks.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
6	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	own	own	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
8	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	9	amod	_	_
9	books	book	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
10	get	get	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	12	amod	_	_
12	marks	mark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **own** | present | children | more books |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot book=Theme |
| 2 | **get** | present | children | better marks |  | a town |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer mark=Stimulus |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What could explain this other than the books themselves?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:91-being-a-scientist:t7:2
# text = What could explain this other than the books themselves?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	obj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	explain	explain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	det	_	_
5	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	obj	_	_
6	than	than	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	books	book	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
9	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **explain** *speech: assert* | could |  | this other |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Books always make children clever by themselves

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:91-being-a-scientist:t7:o1:1
# text = Books always make children clever by themselves
1	Books	book	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	3	advmod	_	_
3	make	make	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
5	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | Books | children |  |  |  | by Books *= book*; always, clever *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset child=Product |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Books are given out as prizes for marks only

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:91-being-a-scientist:t7:o2:1
# text = Books are given out as prizes for marks only
1	Books	book	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	out	out	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	as	as	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	prizes	prize	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	marks	mark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
9	only	only	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give out** | present · passive |  | Books |  |  |  | as prizes; for marks | vn contribute-13.2 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: subject=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Something else, like families who read together, causes both

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:91-being-a-scientist:t7:o3:1
# text = Something else, like families who read together, causes both
1	Something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	10	nsubj	_	_
2	else	else	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
4	like	like	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	families	family	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	conj	_	_
6	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	read	read	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
8	together	together	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
10	causes	cause	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **read** | present | families |  |  |  |  | together *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **cause** | present | Something | both |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition both=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Good marks make books appear at home

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:91-being-a-scientist:t7:o4:1
# text = Good marks make books appear at home
1	Good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	marks	mark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	make	make	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	books	book	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	appear	appear	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	xcomp	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | Good marks |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **appear** | present | books |  |  | home |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at home=Location |

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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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