Exam question 1 · Blue Fairy Book, Minnikin, part 71: Minnikin fights the se…

Which of the following describes the manner in which Minnikin dispatched the second Troll, namely by means of a sword?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: Minnikin, manner · What happens: follow, describe, dispatch, mean · To what, where: second Troll, manner

This is exam question 1 of lesson 1574 «Blue Fairy Book, Minnikin, part 71: Minnikin fights the second and third Trolls, and the Princess wins her rescuer» 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	5 describes	nsubj
2	of	of	SCONJ	_	5 describes	mark
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 describes	det
4	following	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 describes	nsubj
5	describes	describe	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	18 means	parataxis
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 manner	det
7	manner	manner	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 means	nsubj
8	in	in	ADP	_	9 which	case
9	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	11 dispatched	obl
10	Minnikin	Minnikin	PROPN	Number=Sing	11 dispatched	nsubj
11	dispatched	dispatch	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	7 manner	acl:relcl
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 Troll	det
13	second	second	ADJ	Degree=Pos NumForm=Word NumType=Ord	14 Troll	amod
14	Troll	troll	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 dispatched	obj
15	,	,	PUNCT	_	16 namely	punct
16	namely	namely	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 Troll	amod
17	by	by	ADP	_	11 dispatched	obl
18	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
19	of	of	ADP	_	21 sword	case
20	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	21 sword	det
21	sword	sword	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 means	obl
22	?	?	PUNCT	_	18 means	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund					vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	describe	present					vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Agent
3	dispatch	past	Minnikin	the second Troll	the manner		vn murder-42.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent troll=Patient
4	mean	present	the manner			of a sword	vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: 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 · ← Mova's choice

He severed all ten heads, which proceeded across the sands and into the sea

The tree, 14 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 severed	nsubj
2	severed	sever	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	all	all	ADV	_	5 heads	advmod
4	ten	ten	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	5 heads	nummod
5	heads	head	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 severed	obj
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 proceeded	punct
7	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 proceeded	nsubj
8	proceeded	proceed	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 heads	acl:relcl
9	across	across	ADP	_	11 sands	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 sands	det
11	sands	sand	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 proceeded	obl
12	and	and	CCONJ	_	15 sea	cc
13	into	into	ADP	_	15 sea	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 sea	det
15	sea	sea	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 sands	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	sever	past	He	ten heads					vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent head=Theme
2	proceed	past	ten heads			the sands and the sea			vn begin-55.1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Agent

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

He severed all ten heads, which proceeded across the sands

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 severed	nsubj
2	severed	sever	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	all	all	ADV	_	5 heads	advmod
4	ten	ten	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	5 heads	nummod
5	heads	head	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 severed	obj
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 proceeded	punct
7	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 proceeded	nsubj
8	proceeded	proceed	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 heads	acl:relcl
9	across	across	ADP	_	11 sands	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 sands	det
11	sands	sand	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 proceeded	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	sever	past	He	ten heads					vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent head=Theme
2	proceed	past	ten heads			the sands			vn begin-55.1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Agent

Option 3

He cut all ten heads, which danced across the beach

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 cut	nsubj
2	cut	cut	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	all	all	ADV	_	4 ten	advmod
4	ten	ten	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	5 heads	nummod
5	heads	head	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 danced	obl
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 danced	punct
7	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 danced	nsubj
8	danced	dance	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 cut	conj
9	across	across	ADP	_	11 beach	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 beach	det
11	beach	beach	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 danced	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	cut	past	He						vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer
2	dance	past		ten heads		the beach			vn waltz-51.5 «NP V PP.trajectory PP.goal»: agent=Theme across beach=Trajectory

Option 4

He severed all ten heads, which rolled across the dunes

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 severed	nsubj
2	severed	sever	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	all	all	ADV	_	5 heads	advmod
4	ten	ten	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	5 heads	nummod
5	heads	head	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 severed	obj
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 rolled	punct
7	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 rolled	nsubj
8	rolled	roll	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 heads	acl:relcl
9	across	across	ADP	_	11 dunes	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 dunes	det
11	dunes	dune	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 rolled	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	sever	past	He	ten heads					vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent head=Theme
2	roll	past	ten heads			the dunes			vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme across dune=Trajectory

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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