Exam question 1 · Red Fairy Book, The Star Gazer

Which of the following best describes the manner in which the eldest sister proposed to dispose of the gardener's boy?

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 1 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, describe, propose, dispose · To what, where: manner, eldest sister

This is exam question 1 of lesson 1506 «Red Fairy Book, The Star Gazer» 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	6 describes	obj
2	of	of	ADP	_	5 best	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 best	det
4	following	follow	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	5 best	case
5	best	good	ADJ	Degree=Sup	6 describes	nmod
6	describes	describe	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 manner	det
8	manner	manner	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 describes	obj
9	in	in	ADP	_	10 which	case
10	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 manner	nmod
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 sister	det
12	eldest	eld	ADJ	Degree=Sup	13 sister	amod
13	sister	sister	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 which	nsubj
14	proposed	propose	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	13 sister	acl
15	to	to	PART	_	16 dispose	mark
16	dispose	dispose	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	14 proposed	xcomp
17	of	of	ADP	_	21 boy	case
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 gardener	det
19	gardener	gardener	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 boy	nmod:poss
20	's	's	PART	_	19 gardener	case
21	boy	boy	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 dispose	obl
22	?	?	PUNCT	_	6 describes	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund			vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	describe	present	the manner	of the best	tree rules
3	propose	participle	the eldest sister not said here		vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
4	dispose	to-infinitive		of the gardener's boy	vn addict-96 «NP V NP PP.Theme»: agent=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 · ✓ the right answer

By administering a philtre at the close of the banquet

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	SCONJ	_	2 administering	mark
2	administering	administer	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 philtre	det
4	philtre	philtre	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 administering	obj
5	at	at	ADP	_	7 close	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 close	det
7	close	close	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 administering	obl
8	of	of	ADP	_	10 banquet	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 banquet	det
10	banquet	banquet	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 close	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	administer	gerund		a philtre		the close of the banquet			vn contribute-13.2-1-1 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent philtre=Theme

Option 2

By arranging a quiet duel after the evening feast

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	SCONJ	_	2 arranging	mark
2	arranging	arrange	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 duel	det
4	quiet	quiet	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 duel	amod
5	duel	duel	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 arranging	obj
6	after	after	ADP	_	9 feast	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 feast	det
8	evening	evening	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 feast	compound
9	feast	feast	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 arranging	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	arrange	gerund		a quiet duel			after the evening feast		vn build-26.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent duel=Product

Option 3

By administering a sleeping philtre at the close of the great banquet hall festivities

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	SCONJ	_	2 administering	mark
2	administering	administer	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 philtre	det
4	sleeping	sleeping	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 philtre	compound
5	philtre	philtre	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 administering	obj
6	at	at	ADP	_	8 close	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 close	det
8	close	close	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 administering	obl
9	of	of	ADP	_	14 festivities	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 festivities	det
11	great	great	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 festivities	amod
12	banquet	banquet	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 hall	compound
13	hall	hall	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 festivities	compound
14	festivities	festivity	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 close	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	administer	gerund		a sleeping philtre		the close of the great hall festivities			vn contribute-13.2-1-1 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent philtre=Theme

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice

By sending a gift to the garden

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	SCONJ	_	2 sending	mark
2	sending	send	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 gift	det
4	gift	gift	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 sending	obj
5	to	to	ADP	_	7 garden	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 garden	det
7	garden	garden	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 sending	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	send	gerund		a gift		the garden			vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent gift=Theme to garden=Destination

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/1506-pg540-part3/e1/