Exam question 4 · Indian Myths, The Boy and the Bear Chief, part 24: the chi…

Which statement correctly identifies the person spared from the fire, and the reason for her preservation?

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 1 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: statement, person · What happens: identify, spare, preserve · To what, where: fire

This is exam question 4 of lesson 1223 «Indian Myths, The Boy and the Bear Chief, part 24: the chief turns the brothers half bear, and the little hunter burns the mountain» 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	DET	PronType=Int	2 statement	det
2	statement	statement	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 identifies	nsubj
3	correctly	correctly	ADV	_	4 identifies	advmod
4	identifies	identify	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 person	det
6	person	person	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 spared	nsubj
7	spared	spare	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 identifies	ccomp
8	from	from	ADP	_	10 fire	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 fire	det
10	fire	fire	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 spared	obl
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 reason	punct
12	and	and	CCONJ	_	14 reason	cc
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 reason	det
14	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 identifies	conj
15	for	for	ADP	_	17 preservation	case
16	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	17 preservation	nmod:poss
17	preservation	preservation	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 reason	nmod
18	?	?	PUNCT	_	4 identifies	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	where	other	roles by
1	identify	present	which statement		correctly property	vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
2	spare	past	the person	the fire		vn bill-54.5 «NP V NP NP.asset»: agent=Agent
3	preserve		person			nom preservation «act transitive»: poss=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 · ✓ the right answer

The chief's sister was spared, because she had tried to save the two elder brothers from punishment.

The tree, 18 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 chief	det
2	chief	chief	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 sister	nmod:poss
3	's	's	PART	_	2 chief	case
4	sister	sister	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 spared	nsubj
5	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 spared	aux:pass
6	spared	spare	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 tried	punct
8	because	because	SCONJ	_	11 tried	mark
9	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	11 tried	nsubj
10	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	11 tried	aux
11	tried	try	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	6 spared	conj
12	to	to	PART	_	13 save	mark
13	save	save	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	11 tried	xcomp
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 brothers	det
15	two	two	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	17 brothers	nummod
16	elder	elder	ADJ	Degree=Pos	17 brothers	amod
17	brothers	brother	NOUN	Number=Plur	13 save	obj
18	from	from	ADP	_	19 punishment	case
19	punishment	punishment	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 save	obl
20	.	.	PUNCT	_	6 spared	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	spare	past · passive		the chief's sister		vn bill-54.5 «NP V NP NP.asset»: subject=Asset
2	try	past · perfect	sister			vn try-61.1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality
3	save not said to happen	to-infinitive	sister not said here	the two elder brothers	punishment	vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent brother=Theme from punishment=Source

Option 2

The chief's dog was spared, because it had tried to protect the youngest boy from harm.

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 chief	det
2	chief	chief	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 dog	nmod:poss
3	's	's	PART	_	2 chief	case
4	dog	dog	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 spared	nsubj:pass
5	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 spared	aux:pass
6	spared	spare	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 tried	punct
8	because	because	SCONJ	_	11 tried	mark
9	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	11 tried	nsubj
10	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	11 tried	aux
11	tried	try	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	6 spared	conj
12	to	to	PART	_	13 protect	mark
13	protect	protect	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	11 tried	xcomp
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 boy	det
15	youngest	young	ADJ	Degree=Sup	16 boy	amod
16	boy	boy	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 protect	obj
17	from	from	ADP	_	18 harm	case
18	harm	harm	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 protect	obl
19	.	.	PUNCT	_	6 spared	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	other	roles by
1	spare	past · passive		the chief's dog			vn bill-54.5 «NP V NP NP.asset»: subject=Asset
2	try	past · perfect	dog				vn try-61.1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality
3	protect not said to happen	to-infinitive	dog not said here		the youngest boy	from harm	vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent boy=Beneficiary from harm=Theme

Option 3

The chief's sister was spared for kindness.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 chief	det
2	chief	chief	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 sister	nmod:poss
3	's	's	PART	_	2 chief	case
4	sister	sister	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 spared	nsubj
5	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 spared	aux:pass
6	spared	spare	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
7	for	for	ADP	_	8 kindness	case
8	kindness	kindness	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 spared	obl
9	.	.	PUNCT	_	6 spared	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	spare	past · passive		the chief's sister				for kindness	vn bill-54.5 «NP V NP NP.asset»: subject=Asset

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice

The youngest brother was spared, because he had tried to save the elder brothers from the fire.

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 brother	det
2	youngest	young	ADJ	Degree=Sup	3 brother	amod
3	brother	brother	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 spared	nsubj:pass
4	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 spared	aux:pass
5	spared	spare	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 tried	punct
7	because	because	SCONJ	_	10 tried	mark
8	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	10 tried	nsubj
9	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	10 tried	aux
10	tried	try	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	5 spared	conj
11	to	to	PART	_	12 save	mark
12	save	save	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	10 tried	xcomp
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 brothers	det
14	elder	elder	ADJ	Degree=Pos	15 brothers	amod
15	brothers	brother	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 save	obj
16	from	from	ADP	_	18 fire	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 fire	det
18	fire	fire	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 save	obl
19	.	.	PUNCT	_	5 spared	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	spare	past · passive		the youngest brother		vn bill-54.5 «NP V NP NP.asset»: subject=Asset
2	try	past · perfect	he			vn try-61.1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality
3	save not said to happen	to-infinitive	he not said here	the elder brothers	the fire	vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent brother=Theme from fire=Source

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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