Exam question 4 · Andersen's Tales, The Story of the Year: sparrows, Winter…

Which of the following best characterises the role of the old raven within the narrative as a whole?

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris · To what, where: role

This is exam question 4 of lesson 1031 «Andersen's Tales, The Story of the Year: sparrows, Winter and the two children of Spring» 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	Which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	4 following	nsubj
2	of	of	ADP	_	4 following	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 following	det
4	following	follow	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
5	best	good	ADJ	Degree=Sup	6 characterises	amod
6	characterises	characteris	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 following	acl:relcl
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 role	det
8	role	role	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 characterises	obj
9	of	of	ADP	_	12 raven	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 raven	det
11	old	old	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 raven	amod
12	raven	raven	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 role	nmod
13	within	within	ADP	_	15 narrative	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 narrative	det
15	narrative	narrative	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 raven	nmod
16	as	as	ADP	_	18 whole	case
17	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	18 whole	det
18	whole	whole	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 characterises	obl
19	?	?	PUNCT	_	4 following	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund							vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the role of the old raven within the narrative				as a whole	tree rules

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

He is the leader of the flock who decides when the sparrows should fly away from the town each year

The tree, 20 words

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	4 leader	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 leader	cop
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 leader	det
4	leader	leader	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	of	of	ADP	_	7 flock	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 flock	det
7	flock	flock	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 leader	nmod
8	who	who	PRON	PronType=Rel	9 decides	nsubj
9	decides	decide	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 flock	acl:relcl
10	when	when	SCONJ	_	14 fly	mark
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 sparrows	det
12	sparrows	sparrow	NOUN	Number=Plur	14 fly	nsubj
13	should	should	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	14 fly	aux
14	fly	fly	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 leader	parataxis
15	away	away	ADV	_	14 fly	advmod
16	from	from	ADP	_	18 town	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 town	det
18	town	town	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 fly	obl
19	each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	20 year	det
20	year	year	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 fly	obl:unmarked

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	He	the leader			of the flock	tree rules
2	decide	present	the flock					vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	fly away	should	the sparrows		the town	year	away property	vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme from town=Trajectory

Option 2

He helps the sparrows by warning them about the cold and the snow on the fence

The tree, 16 words

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 helps	nsubj
2	helps	help	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 sparrows	det
4	sparrows	sparrow	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 helps	obj
5	by	by	SCONJ	_	6 warning	mark
6	warning	warn	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 helps	advcl
7	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	6 warning	obj
8	about	about	ADP	_	10 cold	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 cold	det
10	cold	cold	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 warning	obl
11	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 snow	cc
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 snow	det
13	snow	snow	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 cold	conj
14	on	on	ADP	_	16 fence	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 fence	det
16	fence	fence	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 warning	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	help	present	He	the sparrows					vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sparrow=Beneficiary
2	warn speech: warn	gerund	He not said here		sparrows = sparrow	the fence		about the cold and the snow	vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP PP.topic»: agent=Agent they=Recipient about cold=Topic

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

He supplies the sparrows with information concerning the identity of the white old man

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 supplies	nsubj
2	supplies	supply	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 sparrows	det
4	sparrows	sparrow	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 supplies	obj
5	with	with	ADP	_	6 information	case
6	information	information	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 supplies	obl
7	concerning	concern	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	6 information	acl
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 identity	det
9	identity	identity	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 concerning	obj
10	of	of	ADP	_	14 man	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 man	det
12	white	white	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 man	amod
13	old	old	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 man	amod
14	man	man	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 identity	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	supply	present	He	the sparrows				with information	vn fulfilling-13.4.1-1 «NP V NP-Fulfilling PP.theme»: agent=Agent sparrow=Recipient with information=Theme
2	concern	gerund	information not said here	the identity of the white old man					vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus identity=Experiencer

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice

He tells the sparrows who the white man on the heap of snow is and why he sits there

The tree, 19 words

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 tells	nsubj
2	tells	tell	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 sparrows	det
4	sparrows	sparrow	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 tells	obj
5	who	who	PRON	PronType=Rel	14 is	obj
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 man	det
7	white	white	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 man	amod
8	man	man	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 is	nsubj
9	on	on	ADP	_	11 heap	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 heap	det
11	heap	heap	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 man	nmod
12	of	of	ADP	_	13 snow	case
13	snow	snow	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 heap	nmod
14	is	be	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 sparrows	acl:relcl
15	and	and	CCONJ	_	18 sits	cc
16	why	why	ADV	PronType=Int	18 sits	advmod
17	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	18 sits	nsubj
18	sits	sit	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 tells	conj
19	there	there	ADV	PronType=Dem	18 sits	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	tell speech: assert	present	He	the sparrows		vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent sparrow=Recipient
2	be	present	the white man on the heap of snow	the sparrows		vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot who=Theme
3	sit	present	man		there	vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent

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/books/1031-pg27200-part242/e4/