Exam question 4 · Fairy Tales, The White Doe, part 39: the prince runs off,…

Account for the failure of the prince to overtake the white doe on the morning described in the passage.

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: prince · What happens: overtake, describe, fail · To what, where: white doe, morning, passage

This is exam question 4 of lesson 1173 «Fairy Tales, The White Doe, part 39: the prince runs off, and the doe becomes a girl each night» 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	Account	account	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 failure	nsubj
2	for	for	ADP	_	4 failure	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 failure	det
4	failure	failure	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	of	of	ADP	_	7 prince	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 prince	det
7	prince	prince	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 failure	nmod
8	to	to	PART	_	9 overtake	mark
9	overtake	overtake	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 failure	acl
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 doe	det
11	white	white	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 doe	amod
12	doe	doe	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 overtake	obj
13	on	on	ADP	_	15 morning	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 morning	det
15	morning	morning	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 overtake	obl
16	described	describe	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	15 morning	acl
17	in	in	ADP	_	19 passage	case
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 passage	det
19	passage	passage	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 described	obl
20	.	.	PUNCT	_	4 failure	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	roles by
1	overtake	to-infinitive		the white doe		morning	tree rules
2	describe	participle		the morning not said here	the passage		vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Agent
3	fail		the prince				nom failure «act 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

He was too weak to chase her far through the forest, having been ill with fever, and the doe had deliberately gone in the opposite direction

The tree, 26 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 weak	nsubj
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 weak	cop
3	too	too	ADV	_	4 weak	advmod
4	weak	weak	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
5	to	to	PART	_	6 chase	mark
6	chase	chase	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 weak	advcl
7	her	she	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	6 chase	obj
8	far	far	ADV	Degree=Pos	11 forest	advmod
9	through	through	ADP	_	11 forest	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 forest	det
11	forest	forest	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 chase	obl
12	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 ill	punct
13	having	have	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	15 ill	aux
14	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	15 ill	cop
15	ill	ill	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 weak	conj
16	with	with	ADP	_	17 fever	case
17	fever	fever	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 ill	obl
18	,	,	PUNCT	_	24 gone	punct
19	and	and	CCONJ	_	24 gone	cc
20	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	21 doe	det
21	doe	doe	NOUN	Number=Sing	24 gone	nsubj
22	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	24 gone	aux
23	deliberately	deliberately	ADV	_	24 gone	advmod
24	gone	go	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	4 weak	conj
25	in	in	ADP	_	28 direction	case
26	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	28 direction	det
27	opposite	opposite	ADJ	Degree=Pos	28 direction	amod
28	direction	direction	NOUN	Number=Sing	24 gone	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	is	past	He			weak property	tree rules
2	chase	to-infinitive	He not said here	her = she	the forest		vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent she=Theme through forest=Trajectory
3	is	gerund · perfect	He not said here			with fever; ill property	tree rules
4	go	past · perfect	the doe		the opposite direction	deliberately property	vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in direction=Location

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice

The doe was faster and the prince gave up the chase at dawn

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 doe	det
2	doe	doe	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 gave	nsubj
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 faster	cop
4	faster	fast	ADV	Degree=Cmp	2 doe	advmod
5	and	and	CCONJ	_	7 prince	cc
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 prince	det
7	prince	prince	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 doe	conj
8	gave	give	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
9	up	up	ADP	_	8 gave	compound:prt
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 chase	det
11	chase	chase	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 gave	obj
12	at	at	ADP	_	13 dawn	case
13	dawn	dawn	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 gave	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	past						fast property	tree rules
2	give up	past	the doe and the prince	the chase			dawn		vn resign-10.11-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent chase=Source

Option 3

He was too weak to follow her far, and the doe had deliberately taken the opposite direction to avoid being caught by him at all

The tree, 25 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 weak	nsubj
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 weak	cop
3	too	too	ADV	_	4 weak	advmod
4	weak	weak	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
5	to	to	PART	_	6 follow	mark
6	follow	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 weak	advcl
7	her	she	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	6 follow	obj
8	far	far	ADV	Degree=Pos	6 follow	advmod
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 taken	punct
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	15 taken	cc
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 doe	det
12	doe	doe	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 taken	nsubj:pass
13	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	15 taken	aux
14	deliberately	deliberately	ADV	_	15 taken	advmod
15	taken	take	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	22 caught	advcl
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 direction	det
17	opposite	opposite	ADJ	Degree=Pos	18 direction	amod
18	direction	direction	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 taken	obj
19	to	to	PART	_	20 avoid	mark
20	avoid	avoid	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	18 direction	acl
21	being	be	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	22 caught	aux:pass
22	caught	catch	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 weak	parataxis
23	by	by	ADP	_	24 him	case
24	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	22 caught	obl
25	at	at	ADP	_	26 all	case
26	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	22 caught	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	is	past	He			weak property	tree rules
2	follow	to-infinitive	He not said here	her = she		far property	vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent she=Theme
3	take	past · perfect · passive		the doe		deliberately property	vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP ADVP»: subject=Theme direction=Destination
4	avoid	to-infinitive					vn avoid-52 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Agent
5	catch	gerund · passive	him = he		all		vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.source NP.asset»: agent=Agent at all=Asset

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

He was too weak to follow her far, and the doe had deliberately taken the opposite direction

The tree, 17 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 weak	nsubj
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 weak	cop
3	too	too	ADV	_	4 weak	advmod
4	weak	weak	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
5	to	to	PART	_	6 follow	mark
6	follow	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 weak	advcl
7	her	she	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	6 follow	obj
8	far	far	ADV	Degree=Pos	6 follow	advmod
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 taken	punct
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	15 taken	cc
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 doe	det
12	doe	doe	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 taken	nsubj:pass
13	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	15 taken	aux
14	deliberately	deliberately	ADV	_	15 taken	advmod
15	taken	take	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 weak	parataxis
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 direction	det
17	opposite	opposite	ADJ	Degree=Pos	18 direction	amod
18	direction	direction	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 taken	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	is	past	He		weak property	tree rules
2	follow	to-infinitive	He not said here	her = she	far property	vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent she=Theme
3	take	past · perfect · passive		the doe	deliberately property	vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP ADVP»: subject=Theme direction=Destination

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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