Exam question 3 · Fairy Tales (pg3282), The Prince and the Crocodile: the he…

Account for the cause of the prince's fall into the river, as recounted in the passage's concluding narrative.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · What happens: recount, conclude, cause · To what, where: concluding narrative, fall

This is exam question 3 of lesson 1242 «Fairy Tales (pg3282), The Prince and the Crocodile: the herb saves the prince from the crocodile» 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 cause	nsubj
2	for	for	ADP	_	4 cause	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 cause	det
4	cause	cause	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	of	of	ADP	_	9 fall	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 prince	det
7	prince	prince	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 fall	nmod:poss
8	's	's	PART	_	7 prince	case
9	fall	fall	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 cause	nmod
10	into	into	ADP	_	12 river	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 river	det
12	river	river	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 fall	nmod
13	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 recounted	punct
14	as	as	SCONJ	_	15 recounted	mark
15	recounted	recount	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 cause	conj
16	in	in	ADP	_	21 narrative	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 passage	det
18	passage	passage	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 narrative	nmod:poss
19	's	's	PART	_	18 passage	case
20	concluding	conclude	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	21 narrative	amod
21	narrative	narrative	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 recounted	obl
22	.	.	PUNCT	_	4 cause	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	where	roles by
1	recount speech: other	participle		the passage's concluding narrative	vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent
2	conclude	gerund			vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality
3	cause		the prince's fall into the river		nom cause «event 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

His donkey, racing after a crow, bumped against his knees, causing him to stumble backward onto the bank

The tree, 18 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	His	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	2 donkey	nmod:poss
2	donkey	donkey	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 bumped	nsubj
3	,	,	PUNCT	_	4 racing	punct
4	racing	race	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	2 donkey	acl
5	after	after	ADP	_	7 crow	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 crow	det
7	crow	crow	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 racing	obl
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	2 donkey	punct
9	bumped	bump	VERB	Mood=Ind Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
10	against	against	ADP	_	12 knees	case
11	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	12 knees	nmod:poss
12	knees	knee	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 bumped	obl
13	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 causing	punct
14	causing	cause	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	9 bumped	advcl
15	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	14 causing	obj
16	to	to	PART	_	17 stumble	mark
17	stumble	stumble	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	14 causing	xcomp
18	backward	backward	ADV	_	17 stumble	advmod
19	onto	onto	ADP	_	21 bank	case
20	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	21 bank	det
21	bank	bank	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 stumble	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	race	gerund	His donkey not said here			after a crow		vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	bump	past	His donkey		donkey's knees			vn bump-18.4-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme against knee=Location
3	cause	gerund	His donkey not said here	donkey				tree rules
4	stumble	to-infinitive	donkey not said here		the bank		backward property	vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme onto bank=Trajectory

Option 2

The princess, rushing down the bank with a rope in her hands, accidentally struck his legs as she ran, causing him to lose his footing and fall into the river

The tree, 30 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 princess	det
2	princess	princess	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 struck	nsubj
3	,	,	PUNCT	_	4 rushing	punct
4	rushing	rush	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	2 princess	acl
5	down	down	ADP	_	7 bank	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 bank	det
7	bank	bank	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 rushing	obl
8	with	with	ADP	_	10 rope	case
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 rope	det
10	rope	rope	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 rushing	obl
11	in	in	ADP	_	13 hands	case
12	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	13 hands	nmod:poss
13	hands	hand	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 rope	nmod
14	,	,	PUNCT	_	2 princess	punct
15	accidentally	accidentally	ADV	_	16 struck	advmod
16	struck	strike	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
17	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	18 legs	nmod:poss
18	legs	leg	NOUN	Number=Plur	16 struck	obj
19	as	as	SCONJ	_	21 ran	mark
20	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	21 ran	nsubj
21	ran	run	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	16 struck	advcl
22	,	,	PUNCT	_	23 causing	punct
23	causing	cause	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	21 ran	advcl
24	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	23 causing	obj
25	to	to	PART	_	26 lose	mark
26	lose	lose	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	23 causing	xcomp
27	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	28 footing	nmod:poss
28	footing	footing	NOUN	Number=Sing	26 lose	obj
29	and	and	CCONJ	_	30 fall	cc
30	fall	fall	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	26 lose	conj
31	into	into	ADP	_	33 river	case
32	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	33 river	det
33	river	river	NOUN	Number=Sing	30 fall	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	rush	gerund	the princess not said here		the bank	with a rope in princess's hands	vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme down bank=Trajectory
2	strike	past	the princess	his legs		accidentally property	vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent leg=Patient
3	run	past	princess				vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
4	cause	gerund	princess not said here	him = he			tree rules
5	lose	to-infinitive	him = he not said here	his footing			vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent footing=Eventuality
6	fall	infinitive	him = he not said here			into the river result	vn become-109.1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient into river=Result

Option 3

His horse, startled by a snake, kicked against his legs, causing him to tumble from the saddle

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	His	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	2 horse	nmod:poss
2	horse	horse	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 startled	nsubj:pass
3	,	,	PUNCT	_	4 startled	punct
4	startled	startle	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	by	by	ADP	_	7 snake	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 snake	det
7	snake	snake	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 startled	obl
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 kicked	punct
9	kicked	kick	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 startled	conj
10	against	against	ADP	_	12 legs	case
11	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	12 legs	nmod:poss
12	legs	leg	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 kicked	obl
13	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 causing	punct
14	causing	cause	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	4 startled	advcl
15	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	14 causing	obj
16	to	to	PART	_	17 tumble	mark
17	tumble	tumble	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	14 causing	xcomp
18	from	from	ADP	_	20 saddle	case
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 saddle	det
20	saddle	saddle	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 tumble	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	startle	participle · passive	a snake	His horse			vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus subject=Experiencer
2	kick	participle	a snake not said here			against horse's legs	vn split-23.2 «NP V apart»: agent=Patient
3	cause	gerund	a snake not said here	horse			tree rules
4	tumble	to-infinitive	horse not said here		the saddle		vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme from saddle=Initial_Location

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

His dog, pursuing a wild duck, knocked heavily against his legs, causing him to lose his balance

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	His	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	2 dog	nmod:poss
2	dog	dog	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 knocked	nsubj
3	,	,	PUNCT	_	4 pursuing	punct
4	pursuing	pursue	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	2 dog	acl
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 duck	det
6	wild	wild	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 duck	amod
7	duck	duck	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 pursuing	obj
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	2 dog	punct
9	knocked	knock	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
10	heavily	heavily	ADV	_	9 knocked	advmod
11	against	against	ADP	_	13 legs	case
12	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	13 legs	nmod:poss
13	legs	leg	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 knocked	obl
14	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 causing	punct
15	causing	cause	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	9 knocked	advcl
16	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	15 causing	obj
17	to	to	PART	_	18 lose	mark
18	lose	lose	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	15 causing	xcomp
19	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	20 balance	nmod:poss
20	balance	balance	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 lose	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	pursue	gerund	His dog not said here	a wild duck			vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent duck=Theme
2	knock	past	His dog		dog's legs	heavily property	vn bump-18.4-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme against leg=Location
3	cause	gerund	His dog not said here	dog			tree rules
4	lose	to-infinitive	dog not said here	dog's balance			vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent balance=Eventuality
5	balance		dog				nom balance «state intransitive»: poss=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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