Exam question 1 · Norse Tales, Esben and the Witch, part 46: Esben steals th…

Which statement correctly describes the action by which Esben obtained the dove from the witch's courtyard?

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · Who acts: statement, Esben · What happens: describe, obtain · To what, where: action, dove, courtyard

This is exam question 1 of lesson 1657 «Norse Tales, Esben and the Witch, part 46: Esben steals the dove, then the king asks for a golden-bristled boar» 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	DET	PronType=Int	2 statement	det
2	statement	statement	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 describes	nsubj
3	correctly	correctly	ADV	_	4 describes	advmod
4	describes	describe	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 action	det
6	action	action	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 describes	obj
7	by	by	ADP	_	8 which	case
8	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	10 obtained	obl
9	Esben	Esben	PROPN	Number=Sing	10 obtained	nsubj
10	obtained	obtain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 action	acl:relcl
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 dove	det
12	dove	dove	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 obtained	obj
13	from	from	ADP	_	17 courtyard	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 witch	det
15	witch	witch	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 courtyard	nmod:poss
16	's	's	PART	_	15 witch	case
17	courtyard	courtyard	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 obtained	obl
18	?	?	PUNCT	_	4 describes	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	describe	present	which statement	the action				correctly property	vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent action=Theme
2	obtain	past	Esben	the dove		the witch's courtyard		by the action	vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent dove=Theme from courtyard=Source

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

He tossed seeds from a sack, then caught the bird

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 tossed	nsubj
2	tossed	toss	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	seeds	seed	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 tossed	obj
4	from	from	ADP	_	6 sack	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 sack	det
6	sack	sack	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 tossed	obl
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 caught	punct
8	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	9 caught	advmod
9	caught	catch	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 tossed	conj
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 bird	det
11	bird	bird	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 caught	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	toss	past	He	seeds		a sack			vn preparing-26.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent seed=Product from sack=Material
2	catch	past	He not said here	the bird			then		vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bird=Theme

Option 2

He threw bread crumbs to the dove and then climbed the tree

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 threw	nsubj
2	threw	throw	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	bread	bread	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 crumbs	compound
4	crumbs	crumb	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 threw	obj
5	to	to	ADP	_	7 dove	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 dove	det
7	dove	dove	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 threw	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 climbed	cc
9	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	10 climbed	advmod
10	climbed	climb	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 threw	conj
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 tree	det
12	tree	tree	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 climbed	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	throw	past	He	bread crumbs		the dove			vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent crumb=Theme to dove=Destination
2	climb	past	He not said here	the tree			then		vn run-51.3.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Initial_Location tree=Theme

Option 3

He scattered peas, then grabbed it.

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 scattered	nsubj
2	scattered	scatter	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	peas	pea	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 scattered	obj
4	,	,	PUNCT	_	6 grabbed	punct
5	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	6 grabbed	advmod
6	grabbed	grab	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 scattered	conj
7	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	6 grabbed	obj
8	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 scattered	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	scatter	past	He	peas					vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent pea=Theme
2	grab	past	He not said here	it			then		vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

He scattered peas from a bag to lure the bird, then seized it

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 scattered	nsubj
2	scattered	scatter	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	peas	pea	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 scattered	obj
4	from	from	ADP	_	6 bag	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 bag	det
6	bag	bag	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 scattered	obl
7	to	to	PART	_	8 lure	mark
8	lure	lure	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 scattered	advcl
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 bird	det
10	bird	bird	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 lure	obj
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 seized	punct
12	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	13 seized	advmod
13	seized	seize	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 scattered	conj
14	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	13 seized	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	roles by
1	scatter	past	He	peas	a bag		vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent pea=Theme
2	lure	to-infinitive	He not said here	the bird			vn lure-59.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bird=Patient
3	seize	past	He not said here	bird		then	vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme

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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