Exam question 2 · Lang Fairy Tales, The Knights of the Fish, part 1: a magic…
Why did the eastern youth decline to remain and hear the citizens' full account of the dragon?
Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 1 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: citizens · What happens: do, remain, hear, account · To what, where: eastern youth decline, full account, dragon
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1262 «Lang Fairy Tales, The Knights of the Fish, part 1: a magic fish gives a poor cobbler two sons who go looking for adventure» 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 | Why | why | ADV | PronType=Int | 2 did | advmod |
| 2 | did | do | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 6 decline | det |
| 4 | eastern | eastern | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 6 decline | amod |
| 5 | youth | youth | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 decline | compound |
| 6 | decline | decline | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 did | obj |
| 7 | to | to | PART | _ | 8 remain | mark |
| 8 | remain | remain | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 6 decline | acl |
| 9 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 10 hear | cc |
| 10 | hear | hear | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 8 remain | conj |
| 11 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 12 citizens | det |
| 12 | citizens | citizen | NOUN | Number=Plur | 15 account | nmod:poss |
| 13 | ' | 's | PART | _ | 12 citizens | case |
| 14 | full | full | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 15 account | amod |
| 15 | account | account | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 hear | obj |
| 16 | of | of | ADP | _ | 18 dragon | case |
| 17 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 18 dragon | det |
| 18 | dragon | dragon | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 account | nmod |
| 19 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 2 did | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | do | past | the eastern youth decline | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent decline=Eventuality | |||||
| 2 | remain | to-infinitive | the eastern youth decline not said here | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||||
| 3 | hear | infinitive | the citizens's full account of the dragon | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer account=Stimulus | |||||
| 4 | account | the citizens | the dragon | nom account «communication transitive»: poss=agent 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 · ✓ the right answer
He resolved to rescue the princess at once
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 resolved | nsubj |
| 2 | resolved | resolve | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | to | to | PART | _ | 4 rescue | mark |
| 4 | rescue | rescue | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 2 resolved | xcomp |
| 5 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 6 princess | det |
| 6 | princess | princess | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 rescue | obj |
| 7 | at | at | ADP | _ | 8 once | case |
| 8 | once | once | ADV | NumForm=Word NumType=Mult | 4 rescue | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | resolve | past | He | tree rules | |||||
| 2 | rescue | to-infinitive | He not said here | the princess | vn steal-10.5 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent princess=Theme |
Option 2
He had already heard enough of the tale and was too impatient to wait while the citizens described every detail of the beast to him
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 heard | nsubj |
| 2 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 heard | aux |
| 3 | already | already | ADV | _ | 4 heard | advmod |
| 4 | heard | hear | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | root | root |
| 5 | enough | enough | ADV | _ | 4 heard | advmod |
| 6 | of | of | ADP | _ | 8 tale | case |
| 7 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 8 tale | det |
| 8 | tale | tale | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 heard | obl |
| 9 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 12 impatient | cc |
| 10 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 12 impatient | cop |
| 11 | too | too | ADV | _ | 12 impatient | advmod |
| 12 | impatient | impatient | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 4 heard | conj |
| 13 | to | to | PART | _ | 14 wait | mark |
| 14 | wait | wait | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 12 impatient | csubj |
| 15 | while | while | SCONJ | _ | 18 described | mark |
| 16 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 17 citizens | det |
| 17 | citizens | citizen | NOUN | Number=Plur | 18 described | nsubj |
| 18 | described | describe | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 14 wait | advcl |
| 19 | every | every | DET | PronType=Tot | 20 detail | det |
| 20 | detail | detail | NOUN | Number=Sing | 18 described | obj |
| 21 | of | of | ADP | _ | 23 beast | case |
| 22 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 23 beast | det |
| 23 | beast | beast | NOUN | Number=Sing | 20 detail | nmod |
| 24 | to | to | ADP | _ | 25 him | case |
| 25 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 23 beast | nmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | hear | past · perfect | He | of the tale; enough property | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer of tale=Stimulus | ||||
| 2 | is | past | He not said here | impatient property | tree rules | ||||
| 3 | wait | to-infinitive | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||||
| 4 | describe | past | the citizens | every detail of the beast to him | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent detail=Theme | ||||
| 5 | detail | the beast to him | nom detail «cognition transitive»: of=patient |
Option 3
He thought the citizens' tale was exaggerated and wished to ride out to the dragon's lair before nightfall
The tree, 20 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 thought | nsubj |
| 2 | thought | think | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 4 citizens | det |
| 4 | citizens | citizen | NOUN | Number=Plur | 6 tale | nmod:poss |
| 5 | ' | 's | PART | _ | 4 citizens | case |
| 6 | tale | tale | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 exaggerated | nsubj:pass |
| 7 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 8 exaggerated | aux:pass |
| 8 | exaggerated | exaggerate | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 2 thought | ccomp |
| 9 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 10 wished | cc |
| 10 | wished | wish | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 8 exaggerated | conj |
| 11 | to | to | PART | _ | 12 ride | mark |
| 12 | ride | ride | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 10 wished | advcl |
| 13 | out | out | ADV | _ | 12 ride | advmod |
| 14 | to | to | ADP | _ | 18 lair | case |
| 15 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 16 dragon | det |
| 16 | dragon | dragon | NOUN | Number=Sing | 18 lair | nmod:poss |
| 17 | 's | 's | PART | _ | 16 dragon | case |
| 18 | lair | lair | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 ride | obl |
| 19 | before | before | ADP | _ | 20 nightfall | case |
| 20 | nightfall | nightfall | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 ride | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | think speech: other | past | He | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | |||||
| 2 | exaggerate | past · passive | the citizens's tale | tree rules | |||||
| 3 | wish | participle | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S_INF»: agent=Pivot | ||||||
| 4 | ride out | to-infinitive | the dragon's lair | before nightfall | out property | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent to lair=Trajectory | |||
| 5 | tell | the citizens | nom tale «communication intransitive»: poss=agent |
Option 4 · ← Mova's choice
He preferred to hunt for the dragon alone
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 preferred | nsubj |
| 2 | preferred | prefer | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | to | to | PART | _ | 4 hunt | mark |
| 4 | hunt | hunt | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 2 preferred | xcomp |
| 5 | for | for | ADP | _ | 7 dragon | case |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 dragon | det |
| 7 | dragon | dragon | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 hunt | obl |
| 8 | alone | alone | ADV | _ | 4 hunt | advmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | prefer | past | He | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme | |||||
| 2 | hunt not said to happen | to-infinitive | He not said here | for the dragon; alone property | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V PP.theme PP.location»: agent=Agent for dragon=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/1262-pg3282-part63/e2/