Exam question 1 · Gods and Fighting Men, The Birth of Bran, part 13: Fionn s…

Which of the following describes the means by which Fionn neutralised the blue flame of Aillen mac Midna?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: Fionn, Aillen mac · What happens: follow, describe, mean, neutralis, flame · To what, where: blue flame · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 1 of lesson 1045 «Gods and Fighting Men, The Birth of Bran, part 13: Fionn slays Aillen, Goll submits to Fionn, and Tuiren marries Iollan» 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	7 means	nsubj
2	of	of	SCONJ	_	5 describes	mark
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 describes	det
4	following	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 describes	nsubj
5	describes	describe	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 means	advcl
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 means	nsubj
7	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
8	by	by	ADP	_	9 which	case
9	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	11 neutralised	obl
10	Fionn	Fionn	PROPN	Number=Sing	11 neutralised	nsubj
11	neutralised	neutralis	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	7 means	ccomp
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 flame	det
13	blue	blue	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 flame	amod
14	flame	flame	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 neutralised	obj
15	of	of	ADP	_	17 mac	case
16	Aillen	Aillen	PROPN	Number=Sing	17 mac	compound
17	mac	Mac	PROPN	Number=Sing	14 flame	nmod
18	Midna	Midna	PROPN	Number=Sing	17 mac	flat
19	?	?	PUNCT	_	7 means	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	follow	gerund			vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	describe	present			vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Agent
3	mean	present			vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
4	neutralis	past	Fionn	the blue flame of Aillen mac	tree rules
5	flame		Aillen mac		nom flame «process intransitive»: of=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

He caught the flame with his shield.

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 caught	nsubj
2	caught	catch	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 flame	det
4	flame	flame	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 caught	obj
5	with	with	ADP	_	7 shield	case
6	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	7 shield	nmod:poss
7	shield	shield	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 flame	nmod
8	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 caught	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	catch	past	He	the flame				with his shield	vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent flame=Theme

Option 2

He threw his bronze shield over the flame, which deflected the fire into the water.

The tree, 15 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 threw	nsubj
2	threw	throw	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	5 shield	nmod:poss
4	bronze	bronze	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 shield	amod
5	shield	shield	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 threw	obj
6	over	over	ADP	_	8 flame	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 flame	det
8	flame	flame	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 threw	obl
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 deflected	punct
10	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	11 deflected	nsubj
11	deflected	deflect	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	8 flame	acl:relcl
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 fire	det
13	fire	fire	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 deflected	obj
14	into	into	ADP	_	16 water	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 water	det
16	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 deflected	obl
17	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 threw	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	throw	past	He	his bronze shield		the flame			vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent shield=Theme over flame=Destination
2	deflect	past	the flame	the fire		the water			vn other_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent fire=Patient

Option 3

He held up his fringed mantle, which sent the blue fire down into the ground.

The tree, 15 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 held	nsubj
2	held	hold	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	up	up	ADP	_	2 held	compound:prt
4	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	6 mantle	nmod:poss
5	fringed	fringe	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 mantle	amod
6	mantle	mantle	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 held	obj
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 sent	punct
8	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	9 sent	nsubj
9	sent	send	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 mantle	acl:relcl
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 fire	det
11	blue	blue	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 fire	amod
12	fire	fire	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 sent	obj
13	down	down	ADV	_	9 sent	advmod
14	into	into	ADP	_	16 ground	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 ground	det
16	ground	ground	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 sent	obl
17	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 held	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	hold up	past	He	his fringed mantle			vn support-15.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot mantle=Theme
2	fringe	participle					tree rules
3	send	past	his fringed mantle	the blue fire	the ground	down property	vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fire=Theme

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

He interposed his fringed mantle, which diverted the flame into the earth.

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 interposed	nsubj
2	interposed	interpose	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	5 mantle	nmod:poss
4	fringed	fringe	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 mantle	amod
5	mantle	mantle	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 interposed	obj
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 diverted	punct
7	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 diverted	nsubj
8	diverted	divert	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 mantle	acl:relcl
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 flame	det
10	flame	flame	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 diverted	obj
11	into	into	ADP	_	13 earth	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 earth	det
13	earth	earth	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 diverted	obl
14	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 interposed	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	interpose speech: other	past	He	his fringed mantle		vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent mantle=Topic
2	fringe	participle				tree rules
3	divert	past	his fringed mantle	the flame	the earth	vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus flame=Experiencer

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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