Exam question 3 · Old Indian Legends, Iktomi and the Ducks, the tree, the wo…

Which statement most accurately explains why Iktomi's retrieval of the blanket is regarded as morally wrong by the narrator?

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: statement, narrator, Iktomi · What happens: explain, regard, retrieve · To what, where: retrieval, blanket · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 3 of lesson 1265 «Old Indian Legends, Iktomi and the Ducks, the tree, the wolves and the blanket» 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	5 explains	nsubj
3	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	4 accurately	advmod
4	accurately	accurately	ADV	_	5 explains	advmod
5	explains	explain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
6	why	why	ADV	PronType=Int	14 regarded	advmod
7	Iktomi	Iktomi	PROPN	Number=Sing	9 retrieval	nmod:poss
8	's	's	PART	_	7 Iktomi	case
9	retrieval	retrieval	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 regarded	nsubj:pass
10	of	of	ADP	_	12 blanket	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 blanket	det
12	blanket	blanket	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 retrieval	nmod
13	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	14 regarded	aux:pass
14	regarded	regard	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 explains	ccomp
15	as	as	SCONJ	_	17 wrong	mark
16	morally	morally	ADV	_	17 wrong	advmod
17	wrong	wrong	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 regarded	xcomp
18	by	by	ADP	_	20 narrator	case
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 narrator	det
20	narrator	narrator	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 regarded	obl
21	?	?	PUNCT	_	5 explains	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	explain speech: assert	present	which statement		accurately property	vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
2	regard	present · passive	the narrator	Iktomi's retrieval of the blanket	wrong property	vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme
3	retrieve		Iktomi	the blanket		nom retrieval «process 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

His cleverness was strong, but he showed no care for the wolves or stone

The tree, 14 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 cleverness	nmod:poss
2	cleverness	cleverness	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 strong	nsubj
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 strong	cop
4	strong	strong	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 showed	punct
6	but	but	CCONJ	_	8 showed	cc
7	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	8 showed	nsubj
8	showed	show	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 strong	conj
9	no	no	DET	PronType=Neg	10 care	det
10	care	care	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 showed	obj
11	for	for	ADP	_	13 wolves	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 wolves	det
13	wolves	wolf	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 showed	obl
14	or	or	CCONJ	_	15 stone	cc
15	stone	stone	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 wolves	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	past	His cleverness					strong property	tree rules
2	show	past	he	no care				for the wolves or stone	vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent care=Recipient

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice

The narrator says Iktomi was simply a wicked trickster who enjoyed harming the wolves, the stone, and his neighbors

The tree, 19 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 narrator	det
2	narrator	narrator	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 says	nsubj
3	says	say	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	Iktomi	Iktomi	PROPN	Number=Sing	9 trickster	nsubj
5	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	9 trickster	cop
6	simply	simply	ADV	_	9 trickster	advmod
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 trickster	det
8	wicked	wicked	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 trickster	amod
9	trickster	trickster	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 says	ccomp
10	who	who	PRON	PronType=Rel	11 enjoyed	nsubj
11	enjoyed	enjoy	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	9 trickster	acl:relcl
12	harming	harm	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	11 enjoyed	xcomp
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 wolves	det
14	wolves	wolf	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 harming	obj
15	,	,	PUNCT	_	17 stone	punct
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 stone	det
17	stone	stone	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 wolves	conj
18	,	,	PUNCT	_	21 neighbors	punct
19	and	and	CCONJ	_	21 neighbors	cc
20	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	21 neighbors	nmod:poss
21	neighbors	neighbor	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 says	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	say speech: assert	present	the narrator			vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent
2	is a	past	Iktomi	a wicked trickster	simply property	tree rules
3	enjoy	past	a wicked trickster			vn admire-31.2 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus
4	harm	gerund	a wicked trickster not said here	the wolves and the stone		vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus wolf=Experiencer

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

His wit lacked wisdom, and he took back what he had freely given

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 wit	nmod:poss
2	wit	wit	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 lacked	nsubj
3	lacked	lack	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	wisdom	wisdom	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 lacked	obj
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 took	punct
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	8 took	cc
7	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	8 took	nsubj
8	took	take	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 lacked	conj
9	back	back	ADV	_	8 took	advmod
10	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	8 took	obj
11	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	14 given	nsubj:pass
12	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	14 given	aux
13	freely	freely	ADV	_	14 given	advmod
14	given	give	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	10 what	acl:relcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	lack	past	His wit	wisdom		tree rules
2	take back	past	wit			vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Theme
3	give	past · perfect · passive		wit	freely property	vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme

Option 4

Because he was greedy, reckless, and cruel, and tricked everyone around him for his own benefit alone

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Because	because	SCONJ	_	4 greedy	mark
2	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	4 greedy	nsubj
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 greedy	cop
4	greedy	greedy	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	6 reckless	punct
6	reckless	reckless	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 greedy	conj
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 cruel	punct
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 cruel	cc
9	cruel	cruel	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 greedy	conj
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	12 tricked	punct
11	and	and	CCONJ	_	12 tricked	cc
12	tricked	trick	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 greedy	conj
13	everyone	everyone	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Tot	12 tricked	obj
14	around	around	ADP	_	15 him	case
15	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	12 tricked	obl
16	for	for	ADP	_	19 benefit	case
17	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	19 benefit	nmod:poss
18	own	own	ADJ	Degree=Pos	19 benefit	amod
19	benefit	benefit	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 tricked	obl
20	alone	alone	ADV	_	19 benefit	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	is	past	he		greedy property	tree rules
2	be		he not said here			tree rules
3	be		he not said here			tree rules
4	trick	past	he not said here	everyone	around him = he; for his own benefit	vn trick-59.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent everyone=Patient

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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