Exam question 2 · Danish Fairy Tales, Jesper and the Pearls, part 36: Jesper…

Identify the reason the King of the Ants gave for requesting Jesper's assistance in the battle.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, King, Jesper · What happens: identify, give, request, assist · To what, where: reason, assistance, battle

This is exam question 2 of lesson 1785 «Danish Fairy Tales, Jesper and the Pearls, part 36: Jesper helps the ants and is set to sort the grain» 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	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 King	det
5	King	King	PROPN	Number=Sing	9 gave	nsubj
6	of	of	ADP	_	8 Ants	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 Ants	det
8	Ants	Ant	PROPN	Number=Plur	5 King	nmod
9	gave	give	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 reason	acl:relcl
10	for	for	SCONJ	_	11 requesting	mark
11	requesting	request	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	9 gave	advcl
12	Jesper	Jesper	PROPN	Number=Sing	14 assistance	nmod:poss
13	's	's	PART	_	12 Jesper	case
14	assistance	assistance	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 requesting	obj
15	in	in	ADP	_	17 battle	case
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 battle	det
17	battle	battle	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 assistance	nmod
18	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	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	past	the King of the Ants	the reason not said here		vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Theme
3	request	gerund	the King of the Ants not said here	Jesper's assistance	the battle	vn beg-58.2 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Agent assistance=Recipient
4	assist		Jesper		the battle	nom assistance «act transitive»: poss=agent in=place

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 said the beetles were winning the war and the ants were tired and hungry

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 said	nsubj
2	said	say	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 beetles	det
4	beetles	beetle	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 winning	nsubj
5	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 winning	aux
6	winning	win	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 said	ccomp
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 war	det
8	war	war	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 winning	obj
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 tired	cc
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 ants	det
11	ants	ant	NOUN	Number=Plur	13 tired	nsubj
12	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	13 tired	cop
13	tired	tired	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 said	ccomp
14	and	and	CCONJ	_	15 hungry	cc
15	hungry	hungry	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 tired	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	say speech: assert	past	He			vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
2	win	past · progressive	the beetles	the war		vn succeed-74-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent war=Eventuality
3	is	past	the ants		tired property	tree rules
4	be		the ants not said here			tree rules

Option 2

He stated the ants were losing and the beetles were too big, and that the king would be blamed if the ants were defeated by the beetles

The tree, 27 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 stated	nsubj
2	stated	state	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 ants	det
4	ants	ant	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 losing	nsubj
5	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 losing	aux
6	losing	lose	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 stated	ccomp
7	and	and	CCONJ	_	12 big	cc
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 beetles	det
9	beetles	beetle	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 big	nsubj
10	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	12 big	cop
11	too	too	ADV	_	12 big	advmod
12	big	big	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 stated	conj
13	,	,	PUNCT	_	20 blamed	punct
14	and	and	CCONJ	_	20 blamed	cc
15	that	that	SCONJ	_	20 blamed	mark
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 king	det
17	king	king	NOUN	Number=Sing	20 blamed	nsubj:pass
18	would	would	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	20 blamed	aux
19	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	20 blamed	aux:pass
20	blamed	blame	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 stated	parataxis
21	if	if	SCONJ	_	25 defeated	mark
22	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	23 ants	det
23	ants	ant	NOUN	Number=Plur	25 defeated	nsubj:pass
24	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	25 defeated	aux:pass
25	defeated	defeat	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	20 blamed	advcl
26	by	by	ADP	_	28 beetles	case
27	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	28 beetles	det
28	beetles	beetle	NOUN	Number=Plur	25 defeated	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	state speech: other	past	He			vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
2	lose	past · progressive	the ants			vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	is	past	the beetles		big property	tree rules
4	blame	would · passive		the king		vn judgment-33.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
5	defeat a condition, not said to happen	past · passive	the beetles	the ants		tree rules

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

He stated the ants were losing and the beetles were too big

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 stated	nsubj
2	stated	state	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 ants	det
4	ants	ant	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 losing	nsubj
5	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 losing	aux
6	losing	lose	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 stated	ccomp
7	and	and	CCONJ	_	12 big	cc
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 beetles	det
9	beetles	beetle	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 big	nsubj
10	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	12 big	cop
11	too	too	ADV	_	12 big	advmod
12	big	big	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 stated	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	other	roles by
1	state speech: other	past	He		vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
2	lose	past · progressive	the ants		vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	is	past	the beetles	big property	tree rules

Option 4

He said the ants were losing ground and the beetles' army was too big

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 said	nsubj
2	said	say	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 ants	det
4	ants	ant	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 losing	nsubj
5	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 losing	aux
6	losing	lose	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 said	ccomp
7	ground	ground	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 losing	obj
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	15 big	cc
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 beetles	det
10	beetles	beetle	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 army	nmod:poss
11	'	's	PART	_	10 beetles	case
12	army	army	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 big	nsubj
13	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	15 big	cop
14	too	too	ADV	_	15 big	advmod
15	big	big	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 said	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	say speech: assert	past	He			vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
2	lose	past · progressive	the ants	ground		vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ground=Eventuality
3	is	past	the beetles's army		big property	tree rules

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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