Exam question 3 · West Highland Tales, The Steed of Bells, part 13: the thre…

With reference to the passage, what was the hen-wife's stated reason for the Queen's danger?

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: passage · What happens: state, be · To what, where: stated reason

This is exam question 3 of lesson 1516 «West Highland Tales, The Steed of Bells, part 13: the three princes set out with the Thief of Sloan to reach the Knight's castle» 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	With	with	ADP	_	2 reference	case
2	reference	reference	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	to	to	ADP	_	5 passage	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 passage	det
5	passage	passage	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 reference	nmod
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 reason	punct
7	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	15 reason	nsubj
8	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	15 reason	cop
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 wife	det
10	hen	hen	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 wife	compound
11	-	-	PUNCT	_	10 hen	punct
12	wife	wife	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 reason	nmod:poss
13	's	's	PART	_	12 wife	case
14	stated	state	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	15 reason	amod
15	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 passage	conj
16	for	for	ADP	_	20 danger	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 Queen	det
18	Queen	Queen	PROPN	Number=Sing	20 danger	nmod:poss
19	's	's	PART	_	18 Queen	case
20	danger	danger	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 reason	nmod
21	?	?	PUNCT	_	2 reference	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	state speech: other	participle							vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent
2	is a	past	the passage and the hen wife's stated reason	the hen wife's stated reason				for the Queen's danger	tree rules

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 sons were locked away from the court

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 sons	det
2	sons	son	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 locked	nsubj:pass
3	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 locked	aux:pass
4	locked	lock	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	away	away	ADV	_	4 locked	advmod
6	from	from	ADP	_	8 court	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 court	det
8	court	court	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 locked	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	lock away	past · passive		the sons		the court		away property	vn tape-22.4 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient

Option 2

The King's sons were kept

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 King	det
2	King	King	PROPN	Number=Sing	4 sons	nmod:poss
3	's	's	PART	_	2 King	case
4	sons	son	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 kept	nsubj:pass
5	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 kept	aux:pass
6	kept	keep	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	keep	past · passive		the King's sons					vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

The King's sons were kept confined and might inherit

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 King	det
2	King	King	PROPN	Number=Sing	4 sons	nmod:poss
3	's	's	PART	_	2 King	case
4	sons	son	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 kept	nsubj:pass
5	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 kept	aux:pass
6	kept	keep	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
7	confined	confine	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 kept	xcomp
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 inherit	cc
9	might	might	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	10 inherit	aux
10	inherit	inherit	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	6 kept	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	keep	past · passive		the King's sons	tree rules
2	confine	participle	the King's sons not said here		vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
3	inherit	might			vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice

She had a rival in the youngest prince, who was ambitious

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 had	nsubj
2	had	have	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 rival	det
4	rival	rival	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 had	obj
5	in	in	ADP	_	8 prince	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 prince	det
7	youngest	young	ADJ	Degree=Sup	8 prince	amod
8	prince	prince	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 had	obl
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	12 ambitious	punct
10	who	who	PRON	PronType=Rel	12 ambitious	nsubj
11	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	12 ambitious	cop
12	ambitious	ambitious	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 prince	acl:relcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	have	past	She	a rival				in the youngest prince	vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rival=Patient
2	is	past	the youngest prince					ambitious property	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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