Exam question 2 · How to handle gossip: is it true, is it kind, would I say…

Whereas a pupil asserts that he is "merely repeating what he heard", determine the correct characterisation of his conduct.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: pupil, you · What happens: assert, repeat, hear, determine, characterise, conduct · To what, where: correct characterisation, conduct

This is exam question 2 of lesson 49 «How to handle gossip: is it true, is it kind, would I say it to their face» of the adult life course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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.

The question

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Whereas	whereas	SCONJ	_	4 asserts	mark
2	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 pupil	det
3	pupil	pupil	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 asserts	nsubj
4	asserts	assert	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	16 determine	advcl
5	that	that	SCONJ	_	10 repeating	mark
6	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	10 repeating	nsubj
7	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 repeating	aux
8	"	"	PUNCT	_	10 repeating	punct
9	merely	merely	ADV	_	10 repeating	advmod
10	repeating	repeat	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	4 asserts	advcl
11	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	10 repeating	obj
12	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	13 heard	nsubj
13	heard	hear	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	11 what	acl:relcl
14	"	"	PUNCT	_	13 heard	punct
15	,	,	PUNCT	_	16 determine	punct
16	determine	determine	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 characterisation	det
18	correct	correct	ADJ	Degree=Pos	19 characterisation	amod
19	characterisation	characterisation	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 determine	obj
20	of	of	ADP	_	22 conduct	case
21	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	22 conduct	nmod:poss
22	conduct	conduct	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 characterisation	nmod
23	.	.	PUNCT	_	16 determine	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	assert	present	a pupil			vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent
2	repeat in a quote	present · progressive	pupil		merely property	vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality
3	hear in a quote	past	pupil			vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer
4	determine	imperative	you not said here	the correct characterisation of pupil's conduct		vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent characterisation=Topic
5	characterise			pupil's conduct		nom characterisation «communication transitive»: of=patient
6	conduct		pupil			nom conduct «act transitive»: poss=agent

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

Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

He is participating in the spreading of the rumour

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 participating	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 participating	aux
3	participating	participate	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
4	in	in	ADP	_	6 spreading	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 spreading	det
6	spreading	spreading	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 participating	obl
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 rumour	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 rumour	det
9	rumour	rumour	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 spreading	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	participate	present · progressive	He					in the spreading of the rumour	vn cooperate-73.1-2 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent in spreading=Theme
2	spread			the rumour					nom spreading «event transitive»: of=patient

Option 2

He bears no responsibility whatsoever for the rumour

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 bears	nsubj
2	bears	bear	NOUN	Number=Plur	root	root
3	no	no	DET	PronType=Neg	4 responsibility	det
4	responsibility	responsibility	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 bears	nmod:unmarked
5	whatsoever	whatsoever	ADV	_	2 bears	advmod
6	for	for	ADP	_	8 rumour	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 rumour	det
8	rumour	rumour	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 whatsoever	obl

The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

Option 3

He is reporting a verified fact to his peers

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 reporting	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 reporting	aux
3	reporting	report	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 fact	det
5	verified	verified	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 fact	amod
6	fact	fact	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 reporting	obj
7	to	to	ADP	_	9 peers	case
8	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	9 peers	nmod:poss
9	peers	peer	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 reporting	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	report	present · progressive	He	a verified fact	his peers				vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent fact=Topic to peer=Recipient

Option 4

He is the sole originator of the rumour

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	5 originator	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 originator	cop
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 originator	det
4	sole	sole	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 originator	amod
5	originator	originator	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	of	of	ADP	_	8 rumour	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 rumour	det
8	rumour	rumour	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 originator	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	He	the sole originator				of the rumour	tree rules

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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