--- title: Peeking at presents and secrets — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Peeking at presents and secrets», a lesson of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Two weeks before his birthday, Ethan in Denver found his presents at the top of Mum's wardrobe and peeked. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/) / Peeking at presents and secrets # Peeking at presents and secrets Lesson 356 of the everyday course of Mova's primary school: 25 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/0/) — Two weeks before his birthday, Ethan in Denver found his presents at the top of Mum's wardrobe and peeked. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/1/) — Nobody ever found out. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/2/) — But on the day he had to act surprised, the surprise felt flat, and he felt guilty every time Mum smiled. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/3/) — A month later he told her. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/4/) — She laughed a little and said «Surprises are part of the fun — for both of us», and he decided to wait next time. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/5/) — Freya read her big sister's diary and found out a secret that made her feel strange and sad. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/6/) — Her sister noticed the diary had been moved and was furious: «That's MINE. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/7/) — That's private!» For a week she would not talk to Freya. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/8/) — Freya said sorry, promised never to read it again, and kept the secret to herself; slowly her sister trusted her again. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/9/) — Snooping means looking at things that are meant for someone else: diaries, messages, letters, desks, conversations through a door. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/10/) — It can spoil good surprises, scare you with things you half understand, and break trust. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/11/) — Owen looked in the teacher's desk while she was out; she came back, saw him, and he stayed in at break. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/12/) — Leo glanced at the test answers on her desk, then owned up to the teacher and took the test again. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/13/) — Jake went on his brother's computer while he was out and left a game open; his brother knew at once and stopped trusting him in his room. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/14/) — If something makes you curious or worried, ask the person openly. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/15/) — Asking is honest; snooping is taking what was not given. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/16/) — A diary is private; reading someone else's diary without permission breaks their trust. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/17/) — Letters addressed to someone are for that person; in many countries opening another person's post on purpose is against the law. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/18/) — Things heard half through a door are often misunderstood and can be more frightening than the truth. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/19/) — Peeking at presents usually spoils the surprise for you, not only for the giver. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/20/) — Looking at test answers before a test is cheating, even if you only glanced. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/21/) — When you are worried about something you saw or heard, telling a trusted adult helps more than keeping it in. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/22/) — Snooping can hurt the snooper too: you may read something unkind about yourself. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/23/) — Trust takes a short time to break and a long time to rebuild. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/356-peeking-at-presents-diaries-and-letters/24/) — Not being caught does not stop the guilty feeling that often comes with snooping. - ← previous: [Cheek to grown-ups and saying sorry](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/355-the-coach-the-lollipop-lady-slammed-doors-and-sorry/) - next →: [Snooping on phones, diaries and letters](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/357-snooping-on-phones-bags-calls-and-codes/) - ↑ back to [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/)