Exam question 2 · Japanese Fairy Tales, The Old Man with the Wen, part 44: t…

State the precise reason the demon chief offered for requiring a pledge of the old man.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · What happens: offer, require, pledge · To what, where: demon chief, pledge, old man

This is exam question 2 of lesson 1384 «Japanese Fairy Tales, The Old Man with the Wen, part 44: the old man dances for the demons and loses his wen, and his wicked neighbour sets out to copy him» 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	State	state	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 reason	compound
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 reason	det
3	precise	precise	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 reason	amod
4	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 chief	det
6	demon	demon	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 chief	compound
7	chief	chief	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 reason	appos
8	offered	offer	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	7 chief	acl
9	for	for	SCONJ	_	10 requiring	mark
10	requiring	require	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	8 offered	advcl
11	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 pledge	det
12	pledge	pledge	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 requiring	obj
13	of	of	ADP	_	16 man	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 man	det
15	old	old	ADJ	Degree=Pos	16 man	amod
16	man	man	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 pledge	nmod
17	.	.	PUNCT	_	4 reason	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	roles by
1	offer	participle	the demon chief not said here	vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent
2	require	gerund	a pledge of the old man	vn require-103-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme pledge=Precondition
3	pledge		the old man	nom pledge «possession 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

Because the old man had lied about his name and home village.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Because	because	SCONJ	_	6 lied	mark
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 man	det
3	old	old	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 man	amod
4	man	man	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 lied	nsubj
5	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 lied	aux
6	lied	lie	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	root	root
7	about	about	ADP	_	9 name	case
8	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	9 name	nmod:poss
9	name	name	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 lied	obl
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	12 village	cc
11	home	home	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 village	compound
12	village	village	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 name	conj
13	.	.	PUNCT	_	6 lied	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	lie	past · perfect	the old man					about man's name and home village	vn assuming_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent about name=Location
2	name		man						nom name «communication transitive»: poss=agent

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

Because the old man had promised to return, and a pledge would secure that promise.

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Because	because	SCONJ	_	6 promised	mark
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 man	det
3	old	old	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 man	amod
4	man	man	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 promised	nsubj
5	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 promised	aux
6	promised	promise	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	14 secure	advcl
7	to	to	PART	_	8 return	mark
8	return	return	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	6 promised	xcomp
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 secure	punct
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	14 secure	cc
11	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 pledge	det
12	pledge	pledge	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 secure	nsubj
13	would	would	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	14 secure	aux
14	secure	secure	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
15	that	that	DET	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	16 promise	det
16	promise	promise	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 secure	obj
17	.	.	PUNCT	_	14 secure	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	promise speech: promise	past · perfect	the old man		vn promise-37.13 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
2	return not said to happen	to-infinitive	the old man not said here		vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
3	secure	would	a pledge	that promise	vn ensure-99 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition promise=Theme

Option 3

Because the old man had promised to return to the tree and dance, and the chief wanted a pledge to secure that promise firmly.

The tree, 24 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Because	because	SCONJ	_	6 promised	mark
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 man	det
3	old	old	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 man	amod
4	man	man	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 promised	nsubj
5	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 promised	aux
6	promised	promise	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	root	root
7	to	to	PART	_	8 return	mark
8	return	return	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	6 promised	xcomp
9	to	to	ADP	_	11 tree	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 tree	det
11	tree	tree	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 return	obl
12	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 dance	cc
13	dance	dance	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 tree	conj
14	,	,	PUNCT	_	18 wanted	punct
15	and	and	CCONJ	_	18 wanted	cc
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 chief	det
17	chief	chief	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 wanted	nsubj
18	wanted	want	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 promised	conj
19	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	20 pledge	det
20	pledge	pledge	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 wanted	obj
21	to	to	PART	_	22 secure	mark
22	secure	secure	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	18 wanted	xcomp
23	that	that	DET	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	24 promise	det
24	promise	promise	NOUN	Number=Sing	22 secure	obj
25	firmly	firmly	ADV	_	22 secure	advmod
26	.	.	PUNCT	_	6 promised	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	promise speech: promise	past · perfect	the old man			vn promise-37.13 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
2	return not said to happen	to-infinitive	the old man not said here		to the tree and dance result	vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Patient to tree=Result
3	want	past	the chief	a pledge		tree rules
4	secure not said to happen	to-infinitive	a pledge not said here	that promise	firmly property	vn ensure-99 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition promise=Theme

Option 4

Because the old man had promised to return, so the chief wanted a pledge to guarantee that promise would be kept by him.

The tree, 23 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Because	because	SCONJ	_	6 promised	mark
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 man	det
3	old	old	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 man	amod
4	man	man	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 promised	nsubj
5	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 promised	aux
6	promised	promise	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	root	root
7	to	to	PART	_	8 return	mark
8	return	return	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	6 promised	xcomp
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 wanted	punct
10	so	so	ADV	_	13 wanted	advmod
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 chief	det
12	chief	chief	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 wanted	nsubj
13	wanted	want	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 promised	conj
14	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	15 pledge	det
15	pledge	pledge	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 wanted	obj
16	to	to	PART	_	17 guarantee	mark
17	guarantee	guarantee	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	13 wanted	xcomp
18	that	that	DET	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	19 promise	det
19	promise	promise	NOUN	Number=Sing	22 kept	nsubj:pass
20	would	would	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	22 kept	aux
21	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	22 kept	aux:pass
22	kept	keep	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	17 guarantee	ccomp
23	by	by	ADP	_	24 him	case
24	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	22 kept	obl
25	.	.	PUNCT	_	6 promised	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	promise speech: promise	past · perfect	the old man		vn promise-37.13 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
2	return not said to happen	to-infinitive	the old man not said here		vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
3	want	past	the chief	a pledge	tree rules
4	guarantee not said to happen	to-infinitive	a pledge not said here		vn ensure-99 «NP V that S»: agent=Precondition clause=Theme
5	keep	would · passive	chief	that promise	vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=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/1384-pg4018-part44/e2/