Exam question 4 · Aesop's Fables, The Wily Lion, part 24: a lion tricks a bu…

In the fable of the Gnat and the Lion, by what means was the Gnat finally destroyed?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · What happens: mean, destroy · To what, where: fable, Gnat · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 4 of lesson 154 «Aesop's Fables, The Wily Lion, part 24: a lion tricks a bull, a parrot scolds a cat, a stag and a sick man get their comeuppance» 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	13 means	obl
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 Gnat	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 Gnat	det
6	Gnat	Gnat	PROPN	Number=Sing	3 fable	nmod
7	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 Lion	cc
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 Lion	det
9	Lion	Lion	PROPN	Number=Sing	6 Gnat	conj
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 means	punct
11	by	by	SCONJ	_	13 means	mark
12	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	13 means	nsubj
13	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
14	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	18 destroyed	aux:pass
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 Gnat	det
16	Gnat	Gnat	PROPN	Number=Sing	18 destroyed	nsubj:pass
17	finally	finally	ADV	_	18 destroyed	advmod
18	destroyed	destroy	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	13 means	ccomp
19	?	?	PUNCT	_	13 means	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	mean	present				the fable of the Gnat and the Lion			vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
2	destroy	past · passive		the Gnat				finally property	vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: subject=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

it was caught in a fox's trap and killed there

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 caught	nsubj:pass
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 caught	aux:pass
3	caught	catch	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	in	in	ADP	_	8 trap	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 fox	det
6	fox	fox	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 trap	nmod:poss
7	's	's	PART	_	6 fox	case
8	trap	trap	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 caught	obl
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 killed	cc
10	killed	kill	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 caught	conj
11	there	there	ADV	PronType=Dem	10 killed	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	catch	past · passive		it		a fox's trap			vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	kill	past				there			vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

it was caught in a spider's web and eaten by the spider

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 caught	nsubj:pass
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 caught	aux:pass
3	caught	catch	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	in	in	ADP	_	8 web	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 spider	det
6	spider	spider	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 web	nmod:poss
7	's	's	PART	_	6 spider	case
8	web	web	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 caught	obl
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 eaten	cc
10	eaten	eat	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 caught	conj
11	by	by	ADP	_	13 spider	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 spider	det
13	spider	spider	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 eaten	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	catch	past · passive		it		a spider's web			vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	eat	participle						by the spider	vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Option 3

it was caught in a spider's web, where it struggled for hours before the spider crept out and ate it

The tree, 21 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 caught	nsubj:pass
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 caught	aux:pass
3	caught	catch	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	in	in	ADP	_	8 web	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 spider	det
6	spider	spider	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 web	nmod:poss
7	's	's	PART	_	6 spider	case
8	web	web	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 caught	obl
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	12 struggled	punct
10	where	where	ADV	PronType=Rel	12 struggled	advmod
11	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	12 struggled	nsubj
12	struggled	struggle	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 caught	conj
13	for	for	ADP	_	14 hours	case
14	hours	hour	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 struggled	obl
15	before	before	SCONJ	_	18 crept	mark
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 spider	det
17	spider	spider	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 crept	nsubj
18	crept	creep	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	12 struggled	advcl
19	out	out	ADV	_	18 crept	advmod
20	and	and	CCONJ	_	21 ate	cc
21	ate	eat	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 caught	conj
22	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	21 ate	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	catch	past · passive		it	a spider's web			vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	struggle	past	web			hour		vn battle-36.4 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	creep out	past	the spider				out property	vn run-51.3.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme
4	eat	past		spider				vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient

Option 4

it was trapped in a hunter's net and eaten by the hounds

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 trapped	nsubj:pass
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 trapped	aux:pass
3	trapped	trap	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	in	in	ADP	_	8 net	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 hunter	det
6	hunter	hunter	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 net	nmod:poss
7	's	's	PART	_	6 hunter	case
8	net	net	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 trapped	obl
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 eaten	cc
10	eaten	eat	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 trapped	conj
11	by	by	ADP	_	13 hounds	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 hounds	det
13	hounds	hound	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 eaten	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	trap	past · passive		it		a hunter's net			vn pocket-9.10 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme in net=Destination
2	eat	participle						by the hounds	vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent

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/154-pg11339-part24/e4/