Exam question 4 · Breakfast and chat shows: celebrity gossip on the sofa

Ascertain the conclusion which may properly be drawn from the laughter of a studio audience.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you · What happens: ascertain, draw · To what, where: conclusion, laughter

This is exam question 4 of lesson 53 «Breakfast and chat shows: celebrity gossip on the sofa» 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	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 conclusion	det
3	conclusion	conclusion	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
4	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 drawn	nsubj:pass
5	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	8 drawn	aux
6	properly	properly	ADV	_	8 drawn	advmod
7	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	8 drawn	aux:pass
8	drawn	draw	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 conclusion	acl:relcl
9	from	from	ADP	_	11 laughter	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 laughter	det
11	laughter	laughter	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 drawn	obl
12	of	of	ADP	_	15 audience	case
13	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	15 audience	det
14	studio	studio	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 audience	compound
15	audience	audience	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 laughter	nmod
16	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the conclusion					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent conclusion=Topic
2	draw	may · passive		the conclusion		the laughter of a studio audience		properly property	vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.initial_location»: subject=Theme from laughter=Initial_Location

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

It establishes that the programme is broadcast live

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 establishes	nsubj
2	establishes	establish	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	that	that	SCONJ	_	7 broadcast	mark
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 programme	det
5	programme	programme	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 broadcast	nsubj:pass
6	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 broadcast	aux:pass
7	broadcast	broadcast	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 establishes	advcl
8	live	live	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 broadcast	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	establish	present	It						vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot
2	broadcast speech: other	present · passive		the programme				live property	vn instr_communication-37.4.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

It does not of itself establish that the jokes are amusing

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 does	nsubj
2	does	do	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	6 establish	advmod
4	of	of	SCONJ	_	6 establish	mark
5	itself	itself	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs Reflex=Yes	6 establish	nsubj
6	establish	establish	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 does	advcl
7	that	that	SCONJ	_	11 amusing	mark
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 jokes	det
9	jokes	joke	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 amusing	nsubj
10	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	11 amusing	cop
11	amusing	amusing	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 establish	ccomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	other	roles by
1	do	present	It		vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	not establish	present	itself = it		vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot
3	is	present	the jokes	amusing property	tree rules

Option 3

It indicates that the audience has been paid to weep

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 indicates	nsubj
2	indicates	indicate	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	that	that	SCONJ	_	8 paid	mark
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 audience	det
5	audience	audience	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 paid	nsubj:pass
6	has	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	8 paid	aux
7	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	8 paid	aux:pass
8	paid	pay	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 indicates	ccomp
9	to	to	PART	_	10 weep	mark
10	weep	weep	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	8 paid	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	indicate	present	It		vn indicate-78-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Pivot clause=Topic
2	pay	present · perfect · passive		the audience	tree rules
3	weep	to-infinitive			vn breathe-40.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Option 4

It proves conclusively and beyond doubt that the jokes are amusing

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 proves	nsubj
2	proves	prove	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	conclusively	conclusively	ADV	_	2 proves	advmod
4	and	and	CCONJ	_	6 doubt	cc
5	beyond	beyond	ADP	_	6 doubt	case
6	doubt	doubt	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 proves	obl
7	that	that	SCONJ	_	11 amusing	mark
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 jokes	det
9	jokes	joke	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 amusing	nsubj
10	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	11 amusing	cop
11	amusing	amusing	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 doubt	acl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	prove	present	It					beyond doubt; conclusively property	vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S_INF»: agent=Agent
2	is	present	the jokes	doubt not said here				amusing property	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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