Exam question 1 · Fairy Book, The Nixy of the Mill-Pond, part 1: a poor mill…

Which of the following best describes the outcome of the miller's bargain with the nixy, as recounted in this part of the tale?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: miller · What happens: follow, describe, recount, bargain · To what, where: outcome, nixy, part

This is exam question 1 of lesson 1702 «Fairy Book, The Nixy of the Mill-Pond, part 1: a poor miller strikes a bargain with a water spirit» 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	6 describes	obj
2	of	of	ADP	_	5 best	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 best	det
4	following	follow	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	5 best	case
5	best	good	ADJ	Degree=Sup	6 describes	nmod
6	describes	describe	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 outcome	det
8	outcome	outcome	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 describes	obj
9	of	of	ADP	_	13 bargain	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 miller	det
11	miller	miller	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 bargain	nmod:poss
12	's	's	PART	_	11 miller	case
13	bargain	bargain	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 outcome	nmod
14	with	with	ADP	_	16 nixy	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 nixy	det
16	nixy	nixy	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 bargain	nmod
17	,	,	PUNCT	_	19 recounted	punct
18	as	as	SCONJ	_	19 recounted	mark
19	recounted	recount	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	16 nixy	acl:relcl
20	in	in	ADP	_	22 part	case
21	this	this	DET	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	22 part	det
22	part	part	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 recounted	obl
23	of	of	ADP	_	25 tale	case
24	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	25 tale	det
25	tale	tale	NOUN	Number=Sing	22 part	nmod
26	?	?	PUNCT	_	6 describes	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		the outcome of the miller's bargain with the nixy		of the best	tree rules
3	recount speech: other	participle		the nixy not said here	this part of the tale		vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent
4	bargain		the miller			with the nixy	nom bargain «communication intransitive»: poss=agent with=obl

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 grew rich and happy, with no regrets at all about 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 grew	nsubj
2	grew	grow	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	rich	rich	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 grew	xcomp
4	and	and	CCONJ	_	5 happy	cc
5	happy	happy	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 rich	conj
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 regrets	punct
7	with	with	ADP	_	9 regrets	case
8	no	no	DET	PronType=Neg	9 regrets	det
9	regrets	regret	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 grew	obl
10	at	at	ADP	_	11 all	case
11	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	9 regrets	nmod
12	about	about	ADP	_	13 it	case
13	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	11 all	nmod
14	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 grew	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	grow	past	He					with no regrets at all; rich property	vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 2

He acquired great wealth, but his newborn son's safety was now in constant danger from the nixy at the pond, and he could never rest.

The tree, 26 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 acquired	nsubj
2	acquired	acquire	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	great	great	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 wealth	amod
4	wealth	wealth	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 acquired	obj
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	16 danger	punct
6	but	but	CCONJ	_	16 danger	cc
7	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	9 son	nmod:poss
8	newborn	newborn	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 son	amod
9	son	son	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 safety	nmod:poss
10	's	's	PART	_	9 son	case
11	safety	safety	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 danger	nsubj
12	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	16 danger	cop
13	now	now	ADV	PronType=Dem	16 danger	advmod
14	in	in	ADP	_	16 danger	case
15	constant	constant	ADJ	Degree=Pos	16 danger	amod
16	danger	danger	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 acquired	obl
17	from	from	ADP	_	19 nixy	case
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 nixy	det
19	nixy	nixy	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 danger	nmod
20	at	at	ADP	_	22 pond	case
21	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	22 pond	det
22	pond	pond	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 nixy	nmod
23	,	,	PUNCT	_	28 rest	punct
24	and	and	CCONJ	_	28 rest	cc
25	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	28 rest	nsubj
26	could	could	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	28 rest	aux
27	never	never	ADV	PronType=Neg	28 rest	advmod
28	rest	rest	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 acquired	conj
29	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 acquired	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	acquire	past	He	great wealth				vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wealth=Theme
2	is	past	his newborn son's safety		constant danger	now	from the nixy at the pond	tree rules
3	not rest	could	he					vn spatial_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

He acquired wealth but feared for his newborn son's safety

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 acquired	nsubj
2	acquired	acquire	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	wealth	wealth	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 acquired	obj
4	but	but	CCONJ	_	5 feared	cc
5	feared	fear	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 acquired	conj
6	for	for	ADP	_	11 safety	case
7	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	9 son	nmod:poss
8	newborn	newborn	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 son	amod
9	son	son	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 safety	nmod:poss
10	's	's	PART	_	9 son	case
11	safety	safety	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 feared	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	acquire	past	He	wealth					vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wealth=Theme
2	fear	past	He not said here					for his newborn son's safety	vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer for safety=Attribute

Option 4

He became rich but lost his peace of mind over his son.

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 became	nsubj
2	became	become	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	rich	rich	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 became	xcomp
4	but	but	CCONJ	_	5 lost	cc
5	lost	lose	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 became	conj
6	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	7 peace	nmod:poss
7	peace	peace	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 lost	obj
8	of	of	ADP	_	9 mind	case
9	mind	mind	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 peace	nmod
10	over	over	ADP	_	12 son	case
11	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	12 son	nmod:poss
12	son	son	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 lost	obl
13	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 became	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	become	past	He		rich property	vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient
2	lose	past	He not said here	his peace of mind	over his son	vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent peace=Eventuality
3	pacify		his = he	mind		nom peace «state transitive»: poss=agent of=patient

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/1702-pg640-part26/e1/