Exam question 2 · Aesop's Fables, The Blacksmith and His Dog: the lazy dog i…

In the fable of the Stag, what is the immediate cause of his death as described in the text?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: fable, his · What happens: be, describe, die · To what, where: immediate cause, text

This is exam question 2 of lesson 141 «Aesop's Fables, The Blacksmith and His Dog: the lazy dog is fed only when the work stops» 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	In	in	ADP	_	3 fable	case
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 fable	det
3	fable	fable	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 Stag	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 Stag	det
6	Stag	Stag	PROPN	Number=Sing	3 fable	nmod
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	12 cause	punct
8	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	12 cause	nsubj
9	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	12 cause	cop
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 cause	det
11	immediate	immediate	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 cause	amod
12	cause	cause	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 fable	conj
13	of	of	ADP	_	15 death	case
14	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	15 death	nmod:poss
15	death	death	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 cause	nmod
16	as	as	SCONJ	_	17 described	mark
17	described	describe	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	12 cause	acl
18	in	in	ADP	_	20 text	case
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 text	det
20	text	text	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 described	obl
21	?	?	PUNCT	_	3 fable	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	is a	present	the fable of the Stag and the immediate cause	the immediate cause		of his death	tree rules
2	describe	participle		the immediate cause not said here	the text		vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Agent
3	die		his = he				nom death «event intransitive»: poss=agent

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 antlers became entangled in the branches of a wood, just as the hounds came rushing in

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 antlers	nmod:poss
2	antlers	antler	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 entangled	nsubj:pass
3	became	become	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 entangled	aux:pass
4	entangled	entangle	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	in	in	ADP	_	7 branches	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 branches	det
7	branches	branch	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 entangled	obl
8	of	of	ADP	_	10 wood	case
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 wood	det
10	wood	wood	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 branches	nmod
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	16 came	punct
12	just	just	ADV	_	16 came	advmod
13	as	as	SCONJ	_	16 came	mark
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 hounds	det
15	hounds	hound	NOUN	Number=Plur	16 came	nsubj
16	came	come	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 entangled	conj
17	rushing	rush	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	16 came	xcomp
18	in	in	ADP	_	17 rushing	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	entangle	past · passive		His antlers	in the branches of a wood	vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: subject=Destination in branch=Theme
2	come	past	the hounds			tree rules
3	rush in	gerund	the hounds not said here			vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 2

His antlers became entangled in the low branches of a wood, where the lion then caught him at last

The tree, 19 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 antlers	nmod:poss
2	antlers	antler	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 entangled	nsubj:pass
3	became	become	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 entangled	aux:pass
4	entangled	entangle	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	in	in	ADP	_	8 branches	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 branches	det
7	low	low	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 branches	amod
8	branches	branch	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 entangled	obl
9	of	of	ADP	_	11 wood	case
10	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 wood	det
11	wood	wood	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 branches	nmod
12	,	,	PUNCT	_	17 caught	punct
13	where	where	ADV	PronType=Rel	17 caught	advmod
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 lion	det
15	lion	lion	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 caught	nsubj
16	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	17 caught	advmod
17	caught	catch	VERB	Mood=Ind Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	11 wood	acl:relcl
18	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	17 caught	obj
19	at	at	ADP	_	20 last	case
20	last	last	ADJ	Degree=Pos	17 caught	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	entangle	past · passive		His antlers				in the low branches of a wood	vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: subject=Destination in branch=Theme
2	catch	past	the lion	him = he		last	then		vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.source NP.asset»: agent=Agent he=Theme at last=Asset

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

His antlers became entangled in the branches of a wood

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 antlers	nmod:poss
2	antlers	antler	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 entangled	nsubj:pass
3	became	become	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 entangled	aux:pass
4	entangled	entangle	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	in	in	ADP	_	7 branches	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 branches	det
7	branches	branch	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 entangled	obl
8	of	of	ADP	_	10 wood	case
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 wood	det
10	wood	wood	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 branches	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	entangle	past · passive		His antlers				in the branches of a wood	vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: subject=Destination in branch=Theme

Option 4

His legs became tangled in the roots of a tree

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 legs	nmod:poss
2	legs	leg	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 tangled	nsubj:pass
3	became	become	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 tangled	aux:pass
4	tangled	tangle	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	in	in	ADP	_	7 roots	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 roots	det
7	roots	root	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 tangled	obl
8	of	of	ADP	_	10 tree	case
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 tree	det
10	tree	tree	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 roots	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	tangle	past · passive		His legs		the roots of a tree			tree rules

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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