Exam question 1 · Russian Tales, The Straw Ox: a clever old woman tricks a h…

Which of the following most accurately describes the device by which the elderly woman effects the capture of the bear?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: device · What happens: follow, describe, effect, capture · To what, where: device, bear

This is exam question 1 of lesson 1113 «Russian Tales, The Straw Ox: a clever old woman tricks a hungry bear with a tar-smeared straw ox» 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	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	6 accurately	advmod
6	accurately	accurately	ADV	_	7 describes	advmod
7	describes	describe	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 following	advcl
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 device	det
9	device	device	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 describes	obj
10	by	by	ADP	_	11 which	case
11	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	15 effects	nsubj
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 effects	det
13	elderly	elderly	ADJ	Degree=Pos	15 effects	amod
14	woman	woman	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 effects	compound
15	effects	effect	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 device	nmod
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 capture	det
17	capture	capture	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 effects	appos
18	of	of	ADP	_	20 bear	case
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 bear	det
20	bear	bear	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 capture	nmod
21	?	?	PUNCT	_	4 following	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	describe	present		the device	accurately property	vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent device=Theme
3	effect		the device			tree rules
4	capture			the bear		nom capture «act transitive»: of=patient

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 straw ox smeared with tar, which the bear attacks in order to repair his ragged fur, after the old woman has sung to it on the steppe

The tree, 28 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 ox	det
2	straw	straw	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 ox	compound
3	ox	ox	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	smeared	smear	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 ox	acl
5	with	with	ADP	_	6 tar	case
6	tar	tar	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 smeared	obl
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 attacks	punct
8	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	11 attacks	nsubj
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 attacks	det
10	bear	bear	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 attacks	compound
11	attacks	attack	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 tar	appos
12	in	in	SCONJ	ExtPos=SCONJ	15 repair	mark
13	order	order	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 in	fixed
14	to	to	PART	_	15 repair	mark
15	repair	repair	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	11 attacks	acl
16	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	18 fur	nmod:poss
17	ragged	ragged	ADJ	Degree=Pos	18 fur	amod
18	fur	fur	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 repair	obj
19	,	,	PUNCT	_	25 sung	punct
20	after	after	SCONJ	_	25 sung	mark
21	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	23 woman	det
22	old	old	ADJ	Degree=Pos	23 woman	amod
23	woman	woman	NOUN	Number=Sing	25 sung	nsubj:pass
24	has	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	25 sung	aux
25	sung	sing	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 ox	conj
26	to	to	ADP	_	27 it	case
27	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	25 sung	obl
28	on	on	ADP	_	30 steppe	case
29	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	30 steppe	det
30	steppe	steppe	NOUN	Number=Sing	25 sung	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	other	roles by
1	smear	participle		a straw ox not said here			with tar	vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP.destination PP.theme»: agent=Agent with tar=Theme
2	attack		tar					tree rules
3	repair	to-infinitive		his ragged fur				vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent fur=Patient
4	sing speech: express	present · perfect · passive		the old woman	fur	the steppe		vn manner_speaking-37.3 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: subject=Topic to it=Recipient

Option 2

A clay ox painted with honey, which the bear eats to fill his belly

The tree, 14 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 ox	det
2	clay	clay	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 ox	compound
3	ox	ox	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 eats	nsubj
4	painted	paint	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 ox	acl
5	with	with	ADP	_	6 honey	case
6	honey	honey	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 painted	obl
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 bear	punct
8	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	10 bear	nsubj
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 bear	det
10	bear	bear	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 honey	appos
11	eats	eat	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
12	to	to	PART	_	13 fill	mark
13	fill	fill	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	11 eats	xcomp
14	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	15 belly	nmod:poss
15	belly	belly	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 fill	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	paint	participle		a clay ox not said here	with honey	vn image_impression-25.1 «NP V NP.destination PP.theme»: agent=Agent with honey=Theme
2	bear		honey			tree rules
3	eat	present	a clay ox			tree rules
4	fill	to-infinitive	a clay ox not said here	ox's belly		vn other_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent belly=Patient

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

A straw ox smeared with tar, which the bear attacks in order to repair his fur

The tree, 16 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 ox	det
2	straw	straw	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 ox	compound
3	ox	ox	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	smeared	smear	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 ox	acl
5	with	with	ADP	_	6 tar	case
6	tar	tar	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 smeared	obl
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 attacks	punct
8	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	11 attacks	nsubj
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 attacks	det
10	bear	bear	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 attacks	compound
11	attacks	attack	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 tar	appos
12	in	in	SCONJ	ExtPos=SCONJ	15 repair	mark
13	order	order	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 in	fixed
14	to	to	PART	_	15 repair	mark
15	repair	repair	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	11 attacks	acl
16	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	17 fur	nmod:poss
17	fur	fur	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 repair	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	smear	participle		a straw ox not said here	with tar	vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP.destination PP.theme»: agent=Agent with tar=Theme
2	attack		tar			tree rules
3	repair	to-infinitive		his fur		vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent fur=Patient

Option 4

A pine-wood cow coated in wax, which the bear sniffs to find food

The tree, 14 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 cow	det
2	pine	pine	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 wood	compound
3	-	-	PUNCT	_	2 pine	punct
4	wood	wood	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 cow	compound
5	cow	cow	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 sniffs	nsubj
6	coated	coat	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 cow	acl
7	in	in	ADP	_	8 wax	case
8	wax	wax	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 coated	obl
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 sniffs	punct
10	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	13 sniffs	obj
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 bear	det
12	bear	bear	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 sniffs	nsubj
13	sniffs	sniff	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
14	to	to	PART	_	15 find	mark
15	find	find	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	13 sniffs	xcomp
16	food	food	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 find	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	coat	participle		a wood cow not said here	in wax	vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent in wax=Theme
2	sniff	present	a wood cow			tree rules
3	find	to-infinitive	a wood cow not said here	food		vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent food=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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