Exam question 2 · Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Six Swans, part 1: a lost king's…

Identify the reason given in the text for the king's decision to place his seven children in a lonely castle.

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, king · What happens: identify, give, decide · To what, where: reason, text

This is exam question 2 of lesson 1678 «Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Six Swans, part 1: a lost king's bargain with a witch, and six brothers turned into swans» 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	Identify	identify	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 reason	det
3	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
4	given	give	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 reason	acl
5	in	in	ADP	_	7 text	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 text	det
7	text	text	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 given	obl
8	for	for	ADP	_	12 decision	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 king	det
10	king	king	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 decision	nmod:poss
11	's	's	PART	_	10 king	case
12	decision	decision	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 given	obl
13	to	to	PART	_	14 place	mark
14	place	place	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 decision	conj
15	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	17 children	nmod:poss
16	seven	seven	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	17 children	nummod
17	children	child	NOUN	Number=Plur	14 place	appos
18	in	in	ADP	_	21 castle	case
19	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	21 castle	det
20	lonely	lonely	ADJ	Degree=Pos	21 castle	amod
21	castle	castle	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 given	obl
22	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	the reason			vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme
2	give	participle		the reason not said here	the text	for the king's decision and place; in a lonely castle	vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.asset»: agent=Agent for decision=Asset
3	decide		the king				nom decision «act transitive»: poss=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

He worried that the stepmother would harm them and punish them cruelly

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 worried	nsubj
2	worried	worry	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	that	that	SCONJ	_	7 harm	mark
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 stepmother	det
5	stepmother	stepmother	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 harm	nsubj
6	would	would	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	7 harm	aux
7	harm	harm	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 worried	advcl
8	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	7 harm	obj
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 punish	cc
10	punish	punish	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	7 harm	conj
11	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	10 punish	obj
12	cruelly	cruelly	ADV	_	10 punish	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	worry	past	He			vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer
2	harm	would	the stepmother	them = they		vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus they=Experiencer
3	punish	infinitive	the stepmother not said here	them = they	cruelly property	vn prosecute-33.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Patient

Option 2

He believed the castle would keep them safe from the wicked witch's curse

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 believed	nsubj
2	believed	believe	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 castle	det
4	castle	castle	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 keep	nsubj
5	would	would	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	6 keep	aux
6	keep	keep	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 believed	ccomp
7	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	6 keep	obj
8	safe	safe	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 keep	xcomp
9	from	from	ADP	_	14 curse	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 witch	det
11	wicked	wicked	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 witch	amod
12	witch	witch	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 curse	nmod:poss
13	's	's	PART	_	12 witch	case
14	curse	curse	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 keep	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	believe	past	He				vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus
2	keep	would	the castle	them = they	the wicked witch's curse	safe property	vn forbid-64.4 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Causer they=Beneficiary from curse=Eventuality
3	curse		the wicked witch				nom curse «communication transitive»: poss=agent

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice

He feared the stepmother might not treat them well and might do them harm, and he wished to protect them from her wicked magic forever

The tree, 25 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 feared	nsubj
2	feared	fear	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 stepmother	det
4	stepmother	stepmother	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 treat	nsubj
5	might	might	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	7 treat	aux
6	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	7 treat	advmod
7	treat	treat	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 feared	ccomp
8	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	7 treat	obj
9	well	well	ADV	Degree=Pos	7 treat	advmod
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	12 do	cc
11	might	might	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	12 do	aux
12	do	do	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	7 treat	conj
13	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	12 do	obj
14	harm	harm	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	12 do	xcomp
15	,	,	PUNCT	_	18 wished	punct
16	and	and	CCONJ	_	18 wished	cc
17	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	18 wished	nsubj
18	wished	wish	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 feared	conj
19	to	to	PART	_	20 protect	mark
20	protect	protect	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	18 wished	advcl
21	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	20 protect	obj
22	from	from	ADP	_	25 magic	case
23	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	25 magic	nmod:poss
24	wicked	wicked	ADJ	Degree=Pos	25 magic	amod
25	magic	magic	NOUN	Number=Sing	20 protect	obl
26	forever	forever	ADV	_	20 protect	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	fear	past	He			vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus
2	not treat	might	the stepmother	them = they	well property	vn equip-13.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent they=Recipient
3	do	might	the stepmother not said here	them = they		tree rules
4	harm	infinitive	the stepmother not said here			vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer
5	wish	past	stepmother			vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S_INF»: agent=Pivot
6	protect	to-infinitive	stepmother not said here	them = they	from her wicked magic; forever property	vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent they=Beneficiary from magic=Theme

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

He feared that their stepmother might not treat them well and might do them harm

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 feared	nsubj
2	feared	fear	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	that	that	SCONJ	_	8 treat	mark
4	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	5 stepmother	nmod:poss
5	stepmother	stepmother	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 treat	nsubj
6	might	might	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	8 treat	aux
7	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	8 treat	advmod
8	treat	treat	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 feared	advcl
9	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	8 treat	obj
10	well	well	ADV	Degree=Pos	8 treat	advmod
11	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 do	cc
12	might	might	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	13 do	aux
13	do	do	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 feared	conj
14	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	13 do	obj
15	harm	harm	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	13 do	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	fear	past	He			vn marvel-31.3 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer
2	not treat	might	their stepmother	them = they	well property	vn equip-13.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent they=Recipient
3	do	might	He not said here	them = they		tree rules
4	harm	infinitive	He not said here			vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer

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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