Exam question 3 · Popular Tales from the Norse, Cinderlad, part 78: Cinderla…

Which of the following most accurately states the means by which the youngest son reached the foals after they had passed the cleft in the rock?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: the, youngest son · What happens: follow, state, mean, reach, pass · To what, where: foals, rock · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 3 of lesson 1581 «Popular Tales from the Norse, Cinderlad, part 78: Cinderlad sets out to watch the seven foals and meets the old hag» 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	7 states	nsubj
2	of	of	SCONJ	_	7 states	mark
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 states	det
4	following	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	7 states	csubj
5	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	6 accurately	advmod
6	accurately	accurately	ADV	_	7 states	advmod
7	states	state	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 means	nsubj
9	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 states	ccomp
10	by	by	ADP	_	11 which	case
11	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	15 reached	obl
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 son	det
13	youngest	young	ADJ	Degree=Sup	14 son	amod
14	son	son	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 reached	nsubj
15	reached	reach	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	9 means	ccomp
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 foals	det
17	foals	foal	NOUN	Number=Plur	15 reached	obj
18	after	after	SCONJ	_	21 passed	mark
19	they	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	21 passed	nsubj:pass
20	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	21 passed	aux
21	passed	pass	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	15 reached	advcl
22	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	23 cleft	det
23	cleft	cleft	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 passed	obj
24	in	in	ADP	_	26 rock	case
25	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	26 rock	det
26	rock	rock	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 passed	obl
27	?	?	PUNCT	_	7 states	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund					vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	state speech: other	present				accurately property	vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
3	mean	present	the				vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
4	reach	past	the youngest son	the foals			vn body_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent foal=Theme
5	pass	past · perfect · passive		foals = foal	the rock		vn give-13.1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: subject=Recipient cleft=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 held the bridle of one foal and then rode on its neck

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 held	nsubj
2	held	hold	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 bridle	det
4	bridle	bridle	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 held	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	7 foal	case
6	one	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	7 foal	nummod
7	foal	foal	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 bridle	nmod
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 rode	cc
9	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	10 rode	advmod
10	rode	ride	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 held	conj
11	on	on	ADP	_	13 neck	case
12	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	13 neck	nmod:poss
13	neck	neck	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 rode	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	hold	past	He	the bridle of one foal					vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bridle=Theme
2	ride	past	He not said here			foal's neck	then		vn nonvehicle-51.4.2 «NP.agent V»: agent=Agent

Option 2

He held fast to the tail of one foal as it ran past the cleft and then climbed up onto its back

The tree, 22 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 held	nsubj
2	held	hold	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	fast	fast	ADV	Degree=Pos	2 held	advmod
4	to	to	ADP	_	6 tail	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 tail	det
6	tail	tail	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 held	obl
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 foal	case
8	one	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	9 foal	nummod
9	foal	foal	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 tail	nmod
10	as	as	SCONJ	_	12 ran	mark
11	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	12 ran	nsubj
12	ran	run	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 held	advcl
13	past	past	ADP	_	15 cleft	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 cleft	det
15	cleft	cleft	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 ran	obl
16	and	and	CCONJ	_	18 climbed	cc
17	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	18 climbed	advmod
18	climbed	climb	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 held	conj
19	up	up	ADP	_	18 climbed	compound:prt
20	onto	onto	ADP	_	22 back	case
21	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	22 back	nmod:poss
22	back	back	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 climbed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	where	when	other	roles by
1	hold	past	He			to the tail of one foal; fast property	vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	run	past	foal	the cleft			vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme past cleft=Trajectory
3	climb up	past	He not said here	foal's back	then		vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme onto back=Trajectory

Option 3

He held fast to the tail of one foal and was then carried along on its back

The tree, 17 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 held	nsubj
2	held	hold	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	fast	fast	ADV	Degree=Pos	2 held	advmod
4	to	to	ADP	_	6 tail	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 tail	det
6	tail	tail	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 held	obl
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 foal	case
8	one	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	9 foal	nummod
9	foal	foal	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 tail	nmod
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 carried	cc
11	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	13 carried	aux:pass
12	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	13 carried	advmod
13	carried	carry	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 held	conj
14	along	along	ADV	_	13 carried	advmod
15	on	on	ADP	_	17 back	case
16	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	17 back	nmod:poss
17	back	back	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 carried	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	hold	past	He					to the tail of one foal; fast property	vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	carry	past · passive	He not said here			foal's back	then	along property	vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

He held fast to the tail of one foal and then rode on its back

The tree, 15 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 held	nsubj
2	held	hold	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	fast	fast	ADV	Degree=Pos	2 held	advmod
4	to	to	ADP	_	6 tail	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 tail	det
6	tail	tail	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 held	obl
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 foal	case
8	one	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	9 foal	nummod
9	foal	foal	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 tail	nmod
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	12 rode	cc
11	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	12 rode	advmod
12	rode	ride	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 held	conj
13	on	on	ADP	_	15 back	case
14	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	15 back	nmod:poss
15	back	back	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 rode	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	hold	past	He					to the tail of one foal; fast property	vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	ride	past	He not said here			foal's back	then		vn nonvehicle-51.4.2 «NP.agent 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.

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