Exam question 4 · Fairy Book, The Prince and the Bee, part 30: the bee-princ…

By what means did the mermaid obtain possession of the prince, according to the narrative?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: mermaid · What happens: mean, obtain, accord, possess · To what, where: possession, prince

This is exam question 4 of lesson 1229 «Fairy Book, The Prince and the Bee, part 30: the bee-prince steals the sword, and the mermaid pulls him under the waves» 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	By	by	ADP	_	2 what	case
2	what	what	PRON	PronType=Rel	7 obtain	obl
3	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 what	acl:relcl
4	did	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	7 obtain	aux
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 mermaid	det
6	mermaid	mermaid	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 obtain	nsubj
7	obtain	obtain	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
8	possession	possession	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 obtain	obj
9	of	of	ADP	_	11 prince	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 prince	det
11	prince	prince	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 possession	nmod
12	,	,	PUNCT	_	16 narrative	punct
13	according	accord	VERB	ExtPos=ADP Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	16 narrative	case
14	to	to	ADP	_	13 according	fixed
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 narrative	det
16	narrative	narrative	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 obtain	obl
17	?	?	PUNCT	_	7 obtain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	mean	present				vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent
2	obtain	past · do-support	the mermaid	possession of the prince	accord the narrative	vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent possession=Theme
3	accord	gerund				vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent
4	possess			the prince		nom possession «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

She grabbed his cloak and pulled him down into the deep river

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 grabbed	nsubj
2	grabbed	grab	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	4 cloak	nmod:poss
4	cloak	cloak	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 grabbed	obj
5	and	and	CCONJ	_	6 pulled	cc
6	pulled	pull	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 grabbed	conj
7	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	6 pulled	obj
8	down	down	ADP	_	6 pulled	compound:prt
9	into	into	ADP	_	12 river	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 river	det
11	deep	deep	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 river	amod
12	river	river	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 pulled	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	grab	past	She	his cloak					vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cloak=Theme
2	pull down	past	She not said here	him = he		the deep river			vn push-12-1 «NP V NP ADJP-Result»: agent=Agent he=Result

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

She seized him by the arm and drew him beneath the waves

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 seized	nsubj
2	seized	seize	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 seized	obj
4	by	by	ADP	_	6 arm	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 arm	det
6	arm	arm	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 seized	obl
7	and	and	CCONJ	_	8 drew	cc
8	drew	draw	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 seized	conj
9	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	8 drew	obj
10	beneath	beneath	ADP	_	12 waves	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 waves	det
12	waves	wave	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 drew	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	seize	past	She	him = he				by the arm	vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme
2	draw	past	She not said here	him = he				beneath the waves	vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme

Option 3

She rose up out of the foam and wrapped her long silver tail around his waist and dragged him far below the waves into her underwater palace

The tree, 27 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 rose	nsubj
2	rose	rise	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	up	up	ADP	_	2 rose	compound:prt
4	out	out	ADP	_	7 foam	case
5	of	of	ADP	_	7 foam	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 foam	det
7	foam	foam	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 rose	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 wrapped	cc
9	wrapped	wrap	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 rose	conj
10	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	13 tail	nmod:poss
11	long	long	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 tail	amod
12	silver	silver	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 tail	compound
13	tail	tail	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 wrapped	obj
14	around	around	ADP	_	16 waist	case
15	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	16 waist	nmod:poss
16	waist	waist	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 wrapped	obl
17	and	and	CCONJ	_	18 dragged	cc
18	dragged	drag	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 rose	conj
19	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	18 dragged	obj
20	far	far	ADV	Degree=Pos	18 dragged	advmod
21	below	below	ADP	_	23 waves	case
22	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	23 waves	det
23	waves	wave	NOUN	Number=Plur	18 dragged	obl
24	into	into	ADP	_	27 palace	case
25	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	27 palace	nmod:poss
26	underwater	underwater	ADJ	Degree=Pos	27 palace	amod
27	palace	palace	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 dragged	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	rise up	past	She		the foam		vn assuming_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent out foam=Location
2	wrap	past	She not said here	her long silver tail	his waist		vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent tail=Theme around waist=Destination
3	drag	past	She not said here	him = he	the waves	into her underwater palace; far property	vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme

Option 4

She grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him down into the cold water

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 grabbed	nsubj
2	grabbed	grab	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 grabbed	obj
4	by	by	ADP	_	6 wrist	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 wrist	det
6	wrist	wrist	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 grabbed	obl
7	and	and	CCONJ	_	8 dragged	cc
8	dragged	drag	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 grabbed	conj
9	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	8 dragged	obj
10	down	down	ADP	_	8 dragged	compound:prt
11	into	into	ADP	_	14 water	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 water	det
13	cold	cold	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 water	amod
14	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 dragged	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	grab	past	She	him = he				by the wrist	vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme
2	drag down	past	She not said here	him = he		the cold water			vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme

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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1229-pg3282-part30/e4/