--- title: The rumour that grows — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «The rumour that grows», a lesson of the world course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Monday: "Mr Hughes has a cold." Tuesday: "Mr Hughes is really ill." Wednesday: "Mr Hughes is in hospital." Thursday: Mr Hughes walks in with a cup of --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/) [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/) / [World](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/) / The rumour that grows # The rumour that grows Lesson 167 of the world course of Mova's primary school: 26 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/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/0/) — Monday: "Mr Hughes has a cold." Tuesday: "Mr Hughes is really ill." Wednesday: "Mr Hughes is in hospital." Thursday: Mr Hughes walks in with a cup of tea. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/1/) — Each person told the story a little bigger, and nobody checked the start. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/2/) — A rumour is a story passed from person to person without anyone checking it. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/3/) — Like the game of Chinese whispers (also called telephone), every telling can change it: words get dropped, details get added, and the boring version gets more exciting. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/4/) — One mouse in the canteen becomes "rats everywhere, the school's closing". - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/5/) — A boy kept in at break becomes "expelled". - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/6/) — "Kai's ringtone is annoying" loses one word and becomes "Kai is annoying". - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/7/) — A late coach becomes "the coach company went bust". - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/8/) — Fear makes rumours stick. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/9/) — Once kids hear the toilets are haunted, a dripping tap and a creaky door "prove" it. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/10/) — And "everyone knows Leo cheated" sounds like a fact, until you ask, "Who saw it?" and nobody did. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/11/) — The fix: go back to the start, ask the person who was there, and trust the right source, like the school office. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/12/) — Kids take the mickey out of the runaway story: "Expelled? - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/13/) — I'm literally right here eating crisps." - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/14/) — A rumour is a story passed on without being checked; it often grows or changes each time it is told. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/15/) — Chinese whispers (also called telephone) is a game that shows how a message changes as it passes along a line. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/16/) — When a story sounds huge, it usually got bigger on the way; the boring first version is usually closest to the truth. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/17/) — Ask "Who saw it?" and go back to the person who started it. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/18/) — Losing or changing one small word can change a whole meaning; grown-ups call this taking things out of context. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/19/) — If someone says "they said this about you", ask the person directly and kindly before getting upset. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/20/) — For school news the right source is the school office, letter or website, not a rumour on the bus or from another school. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/21/) — Expulsion, being sent away from a school for good, is very rare and serious. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/22/) — Rules like "walk, don't run" exist so people don't crash into each other in corridors. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/23/) — A swallowed cherry stone usually just passes through the body; trees need soil and light, not a tummy. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/24/) — Old buildings creak, and pipes knock when water moves through them; a boring explanation is more likely than a ghost. - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/25/) — Saying someone cheated without proof is unfair; if nobody saw it, drop it. - ← previous: ["Everyone has one!": the crowd is not a reason](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/166-everyone-has-one-the-crowd-is-not-a-reason/) - next →: [The whole class punished, and "you didn't say no"](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/) - ↑ back to [World](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/)