Exam question 4 · Celtic Fairy Tales, Gorla of the Flocks, part 50: Covan fe…

Explain the nature of the aid offered to Covan by the Dog of Maol-mor on the night of darkness.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, nature · What happens: explain, offer · To what, where: Covan · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 4 of lesson 1184 «Celtic Fairy Tales, Gorla of the Flocks, part 50: Covan feeds the raven, herds the cows through fire and flood, and is sheltered by two friends» 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	Explain	explain	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 nature	det
3	nature	nature	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 offered	nsubj
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 aid	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 aid	det
6	aid	aid	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 offered	obl
7	offered	offer	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	1 Explain	ccomp
8	to	to	ADP	_	9 Covan	case
9	Covan	Covan	PROPN	Number=Sing	7 offered	obl
10	by	by	ADP	_	12 Dog	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 Dog	det
12	Dog	dog	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 offered	obl
13	of	of	ADP	_	16 mor	case
14	Maol	Maol	PROPN	Number=Sing	16 mor	compound
15	-	-	PUNCT	_	14 Maol	punct
16	mor	mor	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 Dog	nmod
17	on	on	ADP	_	19 night	case
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 night	det
19	night	night	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 offered	obl
20	of	of	ADP	_	21 darkness	case
21	darkness	darkness	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 night	nmod
22	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Explain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	explain speech: assert	imperative	you not said here						vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
2	offer	past	the nature		Covan		night	of the aid; by the Dog of Maol mor	vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP PP.goal»: agent=Agent to covan=Goal

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 offered shelter, a meal of lamb, rest by the fire, and dry clothes, and he promised future help to Covan whenever danger came.

The tree, 24 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 offered	nsubj
2	offered	offer	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	shelter	shelter	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 offered	obj
4	,	,	PUNCT	_	6 meal	punct
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 meal	det
6	meal	meal	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 offered	obl
7	of	of	ADP	_	8 lamb	case
8	lamb	lamb	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 meal	nmod
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 rest	punct
10	rest	rest	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 meal	conj
11	by	by	ADP	_	13 fire	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 fire	det
13	fire	fire	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 rest	nmod
14	,	,	PUNCT	_	17 clothes	punct
15	and	and	CCONJ	_	17 clothes	cc
16	dry	dry	ADJ	Degree=Pos	17 clothes	amod
17	clothes	clothes	NOUN	Number=Ptan	2 offered	obl
18	,	,	PUNCT	_	21 promised	punct
19	and	and	CCONJ	_	21 promised	cc
20	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	21 promised	nsubj
21	promised	promise	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 offered	conj
22	future	future	ADJ	Degree=Pos	23 help	amod
23	help	help	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 promised	obj
24	to	to	ADP	_	25 Covan	case
25	Covan	Covan	PROPN	Number=Sing	21 promised	obl
26	whenever	whenever	ADV	PronType=Rel	28 came	advmod
27	danger	danger	NOUN	Number=Sing	28 came	nsubj
28	came	come	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	21 promised	advcl
29	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 offered	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	other	roles by
1	offer	past	He	shelter		a meal of lamb and rest by the fire obl; dry clothes obl	vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent shelter=Theme
2	promise speech: promise	past	lamb	future help	Covan		vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP PP.goal»: agent=Agent help=Theme to covan=Goal
3	come	past	danger			whenever property	vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 2

He offered shelter, a meal of lamb, and rest, and he promised future help, and he also guided Covan safely back to his herd in the morning.

The tree, 27 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 offered	nsubj
2	offered	offer	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	shelter	shelter	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 offered	obj
4	,	,	PUNCT	_	6 meal	punct
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 meal	det
6	meal	meal	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 shelter	appos
7	of	of	ADP	_	8 lamb	case
8	lamb	lamb	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 meal	nmod
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 rest	punct
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 rest	cc
11	rest	rest	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 offered	obl
12	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 promised	punct
13	and	and	CCONJ	_	15 promised	cc
14	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	15 promised	nsubj
15	promised	promise	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 offered	conj
16	future	future	ADJ	Degree=Pos	17 help	amod
17	help	help	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 promised	obj
18	,	,	PUNCT	_	22 guided	punct
19	and	and	CCONJ	_	22 guided	cc
20	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	22 guided	nsubj
21	also	also	ADV	_	22 guided	advmod
22	guided	guide	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 offered	parataxis
23	Covan	Covan	PROPN	Number=Sing	22 guided	obj
24	safely	safely	ADV	_	25 back	advmod
25	back	back	ADV	_	22 guided	advmod
26	to	to	ADP	_	28 herd	case
27	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	28 herd	nmod:poss
28	herd	herd	NOUN	Number=Sing	25 back	obl
29	in	in	ADP	_	31 morning	case
30	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	31 morning	det
31	morning	morning	NOUN	Number=Sing	22 guided	obl
32	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 offered	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	when	other	roles by
1	offer	past	He	shelter		rest obl	vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent shelter=Theme
2	promise speech: promise	past	lamb	future help			vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent help=Theme
3	guide	past	lamb	Covan	morning		vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent covan=Theme

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

He offered shelter, a meal of lamb, and rest, and he promised future help.

The tree, 14 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 offered	nsubj
2	offered	offer	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	shelter	shelter	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 offered	obj
4	,	,	PUNCT	_	6 meal	punct
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 meal	det
6	meal	meal	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 shelter	appos
7	of	of	ADP	_	8 lamb	case
8	lamb	lamb	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 meal	nmod
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 rest	punct
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 rest	cc
11	rest	rest	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 offered	obl
12	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 promised	punct
13	and	and	CCONJ	_	15 promised	cc
14	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	15 promised	nsubj
15	promised	promise	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 offered	conj
16	future	future	ADJ	Degree=Pos	17 help	amod
17	help	help	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 promised	obj
18	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 offered	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	offer	past	He	shelter				rest obl	vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent shelter=Theme
2	promise speech: promise	past	lamb	future help					vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent help=Theme

Option 4

He provided a roof, lamb to eat, and rest, and swore later help.

The tree, 13 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 provided	nsubj
2	provided	provide	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 roof	det
4	roof	roof	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 provided	obj
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	6 lamb	punct
6	lamb	lamb	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 roof	conj
7	to	to	PART	_	8 eat	mark
8	eat	eat	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	6 lamb	acl
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 rest	punct
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 rest	cc
11	rest	rest	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 provided	obl
12	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 swore	punct
13	and	and	CCONJ	_	14 swore	cc
14	swore	swear	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 provided	parataxis
15	later	late	ADV	Degree=Cmp	16 help	advmod
16	help	help	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	14 swore	ccomp
17	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 provided	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	provide	past	He	a roof and lamb	rest obl	vn ensure-99 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition roof=Theme
2	eat	to-infinitive	He not said here			vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	swear	past				vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
4	help	present			late property	vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V PP.theme»: 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.

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