Exam question 4 · The parents walk in: how good parents react
Whereas a parent has momentarily spoken sharply upon discovering the incident, ascertain the most probable explanation.
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you · What happens: speak, discover, ascertain · To what, where: parent, incident, probable explanation · Speech: someone speaks here
This is exam question 4 of lesson 59 «The parents walk in: how good parents react» 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 | _ | 6 spoken | mark |
| 2 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 parent | det |
| 3 | parent | parent | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 spoken | nsubj:pass |
| 4 | has | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 6 spoken | aux |
| 5 | momentarily | momentarily | ADV | _ | 6 spoken | advmod |
| 6 | spoken | speak | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 13 ascertain | advcl |
| 7 | sharply | sharply | ADV | _ | 6 spoken | advmod |
| 8 | upon | upon | SCONJ | _ | 9 discovering | mark |
| 9 | discovering | discover | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 6 spoken | advcl |
| 10 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 11 incident | det |
| 11 | incident | incident | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 discovering | obj |
| 12 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 6 spoken | punct |
| 13 | ascertain | ascertain | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 14 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 17 explanation | det |
| 15 | most | most | ADV | Degree=Sup | 16 probable | advmod |
| 16 | probable | probable | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 17 explanation | amod |
| 17 | explanation | explanation | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 ascertain | obj |
| 18 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 13 ascertain | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | speak speech: other | present · perfect · passive | a parent | momentarily, sharply property | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | discover | gerund | the incident | vn discover-84-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent incident=Topic | |||||
| 3 | ascertain | imperative | you not said here | the probable explanation | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent explanation=Topic |
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
A wish on the parent's part to view the film in question
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 2 wish | det |
| 2 | wish | wish | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 view | nsubj |
| 3 | on | on | ADP | _ | 7 part | case |
| 4 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 5 parent | det |
| 5 | parent | parent | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 part | nmod:poss |
| 6 | 's | 's | PART | _ | 5 parent | case |
| 7 | part | part | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 wish | nmod |
| 8 | to | to | PART | _ | 9 view | mark |
| 9 | view | view | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | root | root |
| 10 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 11 film | det |
| 11 | film | film | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 view | obj |
| 12 | in | in | ADP | _ | 13 question | case |
| 13 | question | question | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 view | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | view | to-infinitive | a wish on the parent's part | the film | question | vn sight-30.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer film=Stimulus |
Option 2
A long-standing grievance against the child concerned
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 5 grievance | det |
| 2 | long | long | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 4 standing | amod |
| 3 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 2 long | punct |
| 4 | standing | stand | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 5 grievance | amod |
| 5 | grievance | grievance | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 concerned | nsubj |
| 6 | against | against | ADP | _ | 8 child | case |
| 7 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 8 child | det |
| 8 | child | child | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 grievance | nmod |
| 9 | concerned | concerned | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | stand | gerund | vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
Option 3
A settled conclusion that the child is wholly at fault
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 conclusion | det |
| 2 | settled | settle | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 3 conclusion | amod |
| 3 | conclusion | conclusion | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 fault | nsubj |
| 4 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 6 child | mark |
| 5 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 6 child | det |
| 6 | child | child | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 conclusion | acl |
| 7 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 10 fault | cop |
| 8 | wholly | wholly | ADV | _ | 10 fault | advmod |
| 9 | at | at | ADP | _ | 10 fault | case |
| 10 | fault | fault | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | settle | participle | vn correspond-36.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ||||||
| 2 | is | present | a settled conclusion | fault | wholly property | tree rules |
Option 4 · ✓ the right answer
Surprise on the parent's part, not blame of the child
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Surprise | surprise | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 2 | on | on | ADP | _ | 6 part | case |
| 3 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 4 parent | det |
| 4 | parent | parent | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 part | nmod:poss |
| 5 | 's | 's | PART | _ | 4 parent | case |
| 6 | part | part | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Surprise | nmod |
| 7 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 9 blame | punct |
| 8 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 9 blame | advmod |
| 9 | blame | blame | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Surprise | appos |
| 10 | of | of | ADP | _ | 12 child | case |
| 11 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 12 child | det |
| 12 | child | child | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 blame | nmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | blame | the child | nom blame «communication transitive»: of=patient |
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.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/59-the-parents-walk-in-how-good-parents-react/e4/