Exam question 3 · Aesop's Fables, The Farmer, His Boy, and the Rooks, part 2…

Describe the reasoning by which the Frog declines to enter the well, as set out in the fable of the Frogs and the Well.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, Frog · What happens: describe, decline, not enter, set out · To what, where: reasoning, the, fable

This is exam question 3 of lesson 150 «Aesop's Fables, The Farmer, His Boy, and the Rooks, part 20: the boy's sling sends the rooks flying from the wheat field» 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	Describe	describe	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 reasoning	det
3	reasoning	reasoning	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Describe	obj
4	by	by	ADP	_	5 which	case
5	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 declines	obl
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 Frog	det
7	Frog	Frog	PROPN	Number=Sing	8 declines	nsubj
8	declines	decline	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	1 Describe	parataxis
9	to	to	PART	_	10 enter	mark
10	enter	enter	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	8 declines	xcomp
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 enter	obj
12	well	well	ADV	Degree=Pos	10 enter	advmod
13	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 set	punct
14	as	as	SCONJ	_	15 set	mark
15	set	set	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 declines	conj
16	out	out	ADP	_	15 set	compound:prt
17	in	in	ADP	_	19 fable	case
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 fable	det
19	fable	fable	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 set	obl
20	of	of	ADP	_	22 Frogs	case
21	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	22 Frogs	det
22	Frogs	Frog	PROPN	Number=Plur	19 fable	nmod
23	and	and	CCONJ	_	25 Well	cc
24	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	25 Well	det
25	Well	Well	PROPN	Number=Sing	22 Frogs	conj
26	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Describe	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	describe	imperative	you not said here	the reasoning			vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent reasoning=Theme
2	decline	present	the Frog				vn reject-77.2 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
3	not enter	to-infinitive	the Frog not said here	the		well property	vn escape-51.1-1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme the=Destination
4	set out	participle	the Frog not said here		the fable of the Frogs and the Well		vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

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

He reasons that the well might be full of stones, and the pair could not climb out of it again.

The tree, 20 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	2 reasons	nsubj
2	reasons	reason	NOUN	Number=Plur	root	root
3	that	that	SCONJ	_	8 full	mark
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 well	det
5	well	well	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 full	nsubj
6	might	might	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	8 full	aux
7	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	8 full	cop
8	full	full	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 reasons	acl:relcl
9	of	of	ADP	_	10 stones	case
10	stones	stone	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 full	obl
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	17 climb	punct
12	and	and	CCONJ	_	17 climb	cc
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 pair	det
14	pair	pair	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 climb	nsubj
15	could	could	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	17 climb	aux
16	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	17 climb	advmod
17	climb	climb	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 reasons	conj
18	out	out	ADP	_	20 it	case
19	of	of	ADP	_	20 it	case
20	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	17 climb	obl
21	again	again	ADV	_	17 climb	advmod
22	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 reasons	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	might	the well	reasons not said here				of stones; full property	tree rules
2	not climb	could	the pair			well	again		vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme out it=Trajectory

Option 2

He reasons that the well may be cold and the pair would soon tire of swimming.

The tree, 16 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	2 reasons	nsubj
2	reasons	reason	NOUN	Number=Plur	root	root
3	that	that	SCONJ	_	8 cold	mark
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 well	det
5	well	well	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 cold	nsubj
6	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	8 cold	aux
7	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	8 cold	cop
8	cold	cold	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 reasons	acl:relcl
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	14 tire	cc
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 pair	det
11	pair	pair	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 tire	nsubj
12	would	would	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	14 tire	aux
13	soon	soon	ADV	Degree=Pos	14 tire	advmod
14	tire	tire	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	8 cold	conj
15	of	of	ADP	_	16 swimming	case
16	swimming	swimming	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 tire	obl
17	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 reasons	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	may	the well	reasons not said here				cold property	tree rules
2	tire	would	the pair					of swimming; soon property	vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

He reasons that, should the well dry up as the marsh did, the pair would be unable to escape.

The tree, 19 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	2 reasons	nsubj
2	reasons	reason	NOUN	Number=Plur	root	root
3	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 dry	nsubj
4	,	,	PUNCT	_	3 that	punct
5	should	should	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	8 dry	aux
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 dry	det
7	well	well	ADV	Degree=Pos	8 dry	advmod
8	dry	dry	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 reasons	acl:relcl
9	up	up	ADP	_	8 dry	compound:prt
10	as	as	SCONJ	_	13 did	mark
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 marsh	det
12	marsh	marsh	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 did	nsubj
13	did	do	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	8 dry	advcl
14	,	,	PUNCT	_	19 unable	punct
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 pair	det
16	pair	pair	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 unable	nsubj
17	would	would	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	19 unable	aux
18	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	19 unable	cop
19	unable	unable	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 reasons	conj
20	to	to	PART	_	21 escape	mark
21	escape	escape	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	19 unable	xcomp
22	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 reasons	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	other	roles by
1	dry up	should	reasons	well property	vn other_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient
2	do	past	the marsh		vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	is	would	the pair	unable property	tree rules
4	escape	to-infinitive	the pair not said here		vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 4

He reasons that, should the well dry up as the marsh did, the pair would be unable to escape, and so he refuses to jump in with his companion at all.

The tree, 31 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	2 reasons	nsubj
2	reasons	reason	NOUN	Number=Plur	root	root
3	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 dry	nsubj
4	,	,	PUNCT	_	3 that	punct
5	should	should	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	8 dry	aux
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 dry	det
7	well	well	ADV	Degree=Pos	8 dry	advmod
8	dry	dry	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 reasons	acl:relcl
9	up	up	ADP	_	8 dry	compound:prt
10	as	as	SCONJ	_	13 did	mark
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 marsh	det
12	marsh	marsh	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 did	nsubj
13	did	do	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	8 dry	advcl
14	,	,	PUNCT	_	19 unable	punct
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 pair	det
16	pair	pair	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 unable	nsubj
17	would	would	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	19 unable	aux
18	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	19 unable	cop
19	unable	unable	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 dry	conj
20	to	to	PART	_	21 escape	mark
21	escape	escape	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	19 unable	xcomp
22	,	,	PUNCT	_	26 refuses	punct
23	and	and	CCONJ	_	26 refuses	cc
24	so	so	ADV	_	26 refuses	advmod
25	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	26 refuses	nsubj
26	refuses	refuse	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 reasons	acl:relcl
27	to	to	PART	_	28 jump	mark
28	jump	jump	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	26 refuses	xcomp
29	in	in	ADV	_	28 jump	advmod
30	with	with	ADP	_	32 companion	case
31	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	32 companion	nmod:poss
32	companion	companion	NOUN	Number=Sing	28 jump	obl
33	at	at	ADP	_	34 all	case
34	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	32 companion	nmod
35	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 reasons	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	dry up	should	reasons		well property	vn other_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient
2	do	past	the marsh			vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	is	would	the pair		unable property	tree rules
4	escape	to-infinitive	the pair not said here			vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
5	refuse	present	marsh	reasons not said here		tree rules
6	not jump in	to-infinitive	marsh not said here		with marsh's companion at all	vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=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.

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