Exam question 4 · Aesop's Fables, The Monkey and the Camel: a jealous dance,…

In the Miller fable, which event finally causes the loss of the Ass?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: event · What happens: cause · To what, where: loss, Miller fable

This is exam question 4 of lesson 147 «Aesop's Fables, The Monkey and the Camel: a jealous dance, a doctor's signs, a rude Plane-tree and more» 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	_	4 fable	case
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 fable	det
3	Miller	Miller	PROPN	Number=Sing	4 fable	compound
4	fable	fable	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 causes	obl
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	4 fable	punct
6	which	which	DET	PronType=Int	7 event	det
7	event	event	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 causes	nsubj
8	finally	finally	ADV	_	9 causes	advmod
9	causes	cause	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 loss	det
11	loss	loss	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 causes	obj
12	of	of	ADP	_	14 Ass	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 Ass	det
14	Ass	ass	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 loss	nmod
15	?	?	PUNCT	_	9 causes	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	cause	present	which event	the loss of the Ass		the Miller fable		finally property	vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition loss=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

Being tied to the pole at the bridge when the girls came and laughed at him

The tree, 16 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Being	be	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 tied	aux:pass
2	tied	tie	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	12 came	csubj:pass
3	to	to	ADP	_	5 pole	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 pole	det
5	pole	pole	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 tied	obl
6	at	at	ADP	_	8 bridge	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 bridge	det
8	bridge	bridge	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 pole	nmod
9	when	when	SCONJ	_	12 came	mark
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 girls	det
11	girls	girl	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 came	nsubj
12	came	come	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
13	and	and	CCONJ	_	14 laughed	cc
14	laughed	laugh	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	12 came	conj
15	at	at	ADP	_	16 him	case
16	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	14 laughed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	other	roles by
1	tie	gerund · passive		to the pole at the bridge	vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V ADVP-Middle PP»: to pole=Co-Patient
2	come	past	the girls		vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
3	laugh	past	the girls not said here	at him = he	vn nonverbal_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

Breaking free from the pole at the bridge

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Breaking	break	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
2	free	free	ADJ	Degree=Pos	1 Breaking	xcomp
3	from	from	ADP	_	5 pole	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 pole	det
5	pole	pole	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Breaking	obl
6	at	at	ADP	_	8 bridge	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 bridge	det
8	bridge	bridge	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Breaking	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	break	gerund				the pole		at the bridge; free property	vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at bridge=Location

Option 3

Breaking free from the pole at the bridge and then running off into the forest

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Breaking	break	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
2	free	free	ADJ	Degree=Pos	1 Breaking	xcomp
3	from	from	ADP	_	5 pole	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 pole	det
5	pole	pole	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Breaking	obl
6	at	at	ADP	_	8 bridge	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 bridge	det
8	bridge	bridge	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Breaking	obl
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 running	cc
10	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	11 running	advmod
11	running	run	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	1 Breaking	conj
12	off	off	ADP	_	11 running	compound:prt
13	into	into	ADP	_	15 forest	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 forest	det
15	forest	forest	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 running	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	break	gerund				the pole		at the bridge; free property	vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at bridge=Location
2	run off	gerund					then	into the forest result	vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.result»: agent=Theme into forest=Result

Option 4

Getting stuck in the mud near the bridge

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Getting	get	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	root	root
2	stuck	stuck	ADJ	Degree=Pos	1 Getting	xcomp
3	in	in	ADP	_	5 mud	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 mud	det
5	mud	mud	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 stuck	obl
6	near	near	ADP	_	8 bridge	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 bridge	det
8	bridge	bridge	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Getting	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	get	gerund				the bridge		stuck property	vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=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.

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