Exam question 1 · Japanese Fairy Tales, Momotaro, part 40: Momotaro leaves h…

Which of the following accurately describes the reason the old man permitted Momotaro to depart from the household?

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, describe, permit, depart · To what, where: Momotaro, household

This is exam question 1 of lesson 1380 «Japanese Fairy Tales, Momotaro, part 40: Momotaro leaves home and gains a dog» 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	PRON	PronType=Rel	12 permitted	nsubj
2	of	of	ADP	_	8 reason	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 reason	det
4	following	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	8 reason	csubj
5	accurately	accurately	ADV	_	6 describes	advmod
6	describes	describe	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 following	advcl
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 reason	det
8	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 permitted	obl
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 man	det
10	old	old	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 man	amod
11	man	man	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 permitted	nsubj
12	permitted	permit	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
13	Momotaro	Momotaro	PROPN	Number=Sing	12 permitted	obj
14	to	to	PART	_	15 depart	mark
15	depart	depart	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	12 permitted	xcomp
16	from	from	ADP	_	18 household	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 household	det
18	household	household	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 depart	obl
19	?	?	PUNCT	_	12 permitted	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	describe	present			accurately property	vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Agent
3	permit	past	Momotaro		of the reason	vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP S»: agent=Causer momotaro=Beneficiary clause=Eventuality
4	depart not said to happen	to-infinitive		the household		vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme from household=Initial_Location

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

He was persuaded the boy could not be harmed by the demons, so he gave him rice cakes and waved goodbye

The tree, 21 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	3 persuaded	nsubj
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 persuaded	aux:pass
3	persuaded	persuade	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 boy	det
5	boy	boy	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 harmed	nsubj:pass
6	could	could	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	9 harmed	aux
7	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	9 harmed	advmod
8	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	9 harmed	aux:pass
9	harmed	harm	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 persuaded	parataxis
10	by	by	ADP	_	12 demons	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 demons	det
12	demons	demon	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 harmed	obl
13	,	,	PUNCT	_	16 gave	punct
14	so	so	ADV	_	16 gave	advmod
15	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	16 gave	nsubj
16	gave	give	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 persuaded	parataxis
17	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	16 gave	iobj
18	rice	rice	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 cakes	compound
19	cakes	cake	NOUN	Number=Plur	16 gave	obj
20	and	and	CCONJ	_	21 waved	cc
21	waved	wave	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	16 gave	conj
22	goodbye	goodbye	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 waved	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	roles by
1	persuade	past · passive		He		vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient
2	not harm	could · passive	the demons	the boy		vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus subject=Experiencer
3	give	past	boy	rice cakes	him = he	vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient cake=Theme
4	wave	past	boy not said here	goodbye		vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent goodbye=Patient

Option 2

He was persuaded the boy could not be harmed by the demons, and he wanted the boy to succeed in his quest

The tree, 22 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	3 persuaded	nsubj
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 persuaded	aux:pass
3	persuaded	persuade	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 boy	det
5	boy	boy	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 harmed	nsubj:pass
6	could	could	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	9 harmed	aux
7	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	9 harmed	advmod
8	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	9 harmed	aux:pass
9	harmed	harm	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 persuaded	parataxis
10	by	by	ADP	_	12 demons	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 demons	det
12	demons	demon	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 harmed	obl
13	,	,	PUNCT	_	16 wanted	punct
14	and	and	CCONJ	_	16 wanted	cc
15	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	16 wanted	nsubj
16	wanted	want	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 persuaded	advcl
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 boy	det
18	boy	boy	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 wanted	obj
19	to	to	PART	_	20 succeed	mark
20	succeed	succeed	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	16 wanted	xcomp
21	in	in	ADP	_	23 quest	case
22	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	23 quest	nmod:poss
23	quest	quest	NOUN	Number=Sing	20 succeed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	persuade	past · passive		He		vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient
2	not harm	could · passive	the demons	the boy		vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus subject=Experiencer
3	want	past	boy	the boy		tree rules
4	succeed not said to happen	to-infinitive	the boy not said here		boy's quest	vn succeed-74-1 «NP V PP.eventuality S_ING»: agent=Agent in quest=Eventuality
5	quest		boy			nom quest «cognition intransitive»: poss=agent

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice

He thought the monsters were not a real threat to the boy

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 monsters	det
4	monsters	monster	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 threat	nsubj
5	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	9 threat	cop
6	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	9 threat	advmod
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 threat	det
8	real	real	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 threat	amod
9	threat	threat	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 thought	ccomp
10	to	to	ADP	_	12 boy	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 boy	det
12	boy	boy	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 threat	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	think speech: other	past	He						vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	not is a	past	the monsters	a real threat				to the boy	tree rules

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

He was persuaded the boy could not be harmed by the demons

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	3 persuaded	nsubj
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 persuaded	aux:pass
3	persuaded	persuade	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 boy	det
5	boy	boy	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 harmed	nsubj:pass
6	could	could	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	9 harmed	aux
7	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	9 harmed	advmod
8	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	9 harmed	aux:pass
9	harmed	harm	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 persuaded	parataxis
10	by	by	ADP	_	12 demons	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 demons	det
12	demons	demon	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 harmed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	persuade	past · passive		He					vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient
2	not harm	could · passive	the demons	the boy					vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus subject=Experiencer

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/1380-pg4018-part40/e1/