Exam question 3 · Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Tinder-Box: the flour trail, t…

With reference to the text, state the principal reason why the Mother-Toad declined to disclose the nature of the jewel.

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: Mother · What happens: decline, not disclose · To what, where: nature

This is exam question 3 of lesson 1003 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Tinder-Box: the flour trail, the three dogs and the soldier's escape» of the books 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	With	with	ADP	_	2 reference	case
2	reference	reference	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	to	to	ADP	_	5 text	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 text	det
5	text	text	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 reference	nmod
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	7 state	punct
7	state	state	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 reference	conj
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 reason	det
9	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 reason	amod
10	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 state	appos
11	why	why	ADV	PronType=Int	16 declined	advmod
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 Mother	det
13	Mother	mother	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 declined	nsubj
14	-	-	PUNCT	_	15 Toad	punct
15	Toad	Toad	PROPN	Number=Sing	13 Mother	appos
16	declined	decline	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	10 reason	acl:relcl
17	to	to	PART	_	18 disclose	mark
18	disclose	disclose	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	16 declined	xcomp
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 nature	det
20	nature	nature	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 disclose	obj
21	of	of	ADP	_	23 jewel	case
22	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	23 jewel	det
23	jewel	jewel	NOUN	Number=Sing	20 nature	nmod
24	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 reference	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	decline	past	the Mother						vn reject-77.2 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
2	not disclose	to-infinitive	the Mother not said here	the nature of the jewel					vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot nature=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

She claimed the jewel was a family treasure that could only be seen by those who had earned it

The tree, 19 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 claimed	nsubj
2	claimed	claim	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 jewel	det
4	jewel	jewel	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 treasure	nsubj
5	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	8 treasure	cop
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 treasure	det
7	family	family	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 treasure	compound
8	treasure	treasure	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 claimed	ccomp
9	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	13 seen	nsubj
10	could	could	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	13 seen	aux
11	only	only	ADV	_	13 seen	advmod
12	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	13 seen	aux:pass
13	seen	see	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 treasure	acl:relcl
14	by	by	ADP	_	15 those	case
15	those	that	PRON	Number=Plur PronType=Dem	13 seen	obl
16	who	who	PRON	PronType=Rel	18 earned	nsubj
17	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	18 earned	aux
18	earned	earn	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	15 those	acl:relcl
19	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	18 earned	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	claim speech: other	past	She		vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent
2	is a	past	the jewel	a family treasure	tree rules
3	see	could · passive	a family treasure	a family treasure	vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer subject=Stimulus
4	earn	past · perfect		jewel	vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice

Because she thought the question was rude and that the young toads were too foolish to understand what the jewel truly meant to her and to her family

The tree, 28 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Because	because	SCONJ	_	3 thought	mark
2	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 thought	nsubj
3	thought	think	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 question	det
5	question	question	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 rude	nsubj
6	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	7 rude	cop
7	rude	rude	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 thought	ccomp
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	15 foolish	cc
9	that	that	SCONJ	_	15 foolish	mark
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 toads	det
11	young	young	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 toads	amod
12	toads	toad	NOUN	Number=Plur	15 foolish	nsubj
13	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	15 foolish	cop
14	too	too	ADV	_	15 foolish	advmod
15	foolish	foolish	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 rude	conj
16	to	to	PART	_	17 understand	mark
17	understand	understand	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	15 foolish	advcl
18	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	22 meant	obj
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 jewel	det
20	jewel	jewel	NOUN	Number=Sing	22 meant	nsubj
21	truly	truly	ADV	_	22 meant	advmod
22	meant	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	17 understand	ccomp
23	to	to	ADP	_	24 her	case
24	her	she	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	22 meant	obl
25	and	and	CCONJ	_	28 family	cc
26	to	to	ADP	_	28 family	case
27	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	28 family	nmod:poss
28	family	family	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 rude	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	to whom	other	roles by
1	think speech: other	past	she			vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	is	past	the question		rude property	tree rules
3	is	past	the young toads		foolish property	tree rules
4	understand	to-infinitive	the young toads not said here			vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus
5	mean	past	the jewel	her = she	truly property	vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Pivot what=Theme to she=Attribute

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

She declared that the jewel was too precious to describe and that she would not answer further questions

The tree, 18 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 declared	nsubj
2	declared	declare	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	that	that	SCONJ	_	8 precious	mark
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 jewel	det
5	jewel	jewel	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 precious	nsubj
6	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	8 precious	cop
7	too	too	ADV	_	8 precious	advmod
8	precious	precious	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 declared	ccomp
9	to	to	PART	_	10 describe	mark
10	describe	describe	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	8 precious	xcomp
11	and	and	CCONJ	_	16 answer	cc
12	that	that	SCONJ	_	16 answer	mark
13	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	16 answer	nsubj
14	would	would	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	16 answer	aux
15	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	16 answer	advmod
16	answer	answer	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	8 precious	conj
17	further	further	ADJ	Degree=Pos	18 questions	amod
18	questions	question	NOUN	Number=Plur	16 answer	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	declare speech: other	past	She			vn declare-29.4-1-1-1 «NP V what S_INF»: agent=Agent
2	is	past	the jewel		precious property	tree rules
3	describe	to-infinitive	the jewel not said here			vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Agent
4	not answer speech: assert	would	she	further questions		vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent question=Eventuality

Option 4

She feared the other toads would steal it from her if they learned its true nature and worth

The tree, 18 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 feared	nsubj
2	feared	fear	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 toads	det
4	other	other	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 toads	amod
5	toads	toad	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 steal	nsubj
6	would	would	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	7 steal	aux
7	steal	steal	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 feared	ccomp
8	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	7 steal	obj
9	from	from	ADP	_	10 her	case
10	her	she	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 feared	obl
11	if	if	SCONJ	_	13 learned	mark
12	they	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	13 learned	nsubj
13	learned	learn	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 feared	advcl
14	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	16 nature	nmod:poss
15	true	true	ADJ	Degree=Pos	16 nature	amod
16	nature	nature	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 learned	obj
17	and	and	CCONJ	_	18 worth	cc
18	worth	worth	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 nature	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	fear	past	She		from her = she	vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus
2	steal	would	the other toads	it		vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location it=Theme
3	learn a condition, not said to happen	past	toads = toad	its true nature and worth		vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nature=Topic

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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