Exam question 3 · Tales of the Punjab, The Brahmani's Advice, part 20: the p…
By what means did the prince dispatch the two serpents of the princess?
Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 3 · right ✓ · What happens: mean, do, dispatch · To what, where: prince, two serpents · Speech: someone speaks here
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1836 «Tales of the Punjab, The Brahmani's Advice, part 20: the prince buys wisdom, outwits a host, and wins a throne» 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 | By | by | SCONJ | _ | 3 means | mark |
| 2 | what | what | PRON | PronType=Int | 3 means | nsubj |
| 3 | means | mean | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 7 dispatch | advcl |
| 4 | did | do | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 3 means | ccomp |
| 5 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 6 prince | det |
| 6 | prince | prince | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 did | obj |
| 7 | dispatch | dispatch | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 8 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 10 serpents | det |
| 9 | two | two | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 10 serpents | nummod |
| 10 | serpents | serpent | NOUN | Number=Plur | 7 dispatch | obj |
| 11 | of | of | ADP | _ | 13 princess | case |
| 12 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 13 princess | det |
| 13 | princess | princess | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 serpents | nmod |
| 14 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 7 dispatch | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | mean | present | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | ||||||
| 2 | do | past | the prince | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent prince=Eventuality | |||||
| 3 | dispatch | present | the two serpents of the princess | vn murder-42.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent serpent=Patient |
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
By cutting them down with his bow and arrows
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | By | by | SCONJ | _ | 2 cutting | mark |
| 2 | cutting | cut | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | root | root |
| 3 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 2 cutting | obj |
| 4 | down | down | ADP | _ | 2 cutting | compound:prt |
| 5 | with | with | ADP | _ | 7 bow | case |
| 6 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 7 bow | nmod:poss |
| 7 | bow | bow | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 cutting | obl |
| 8 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 9 arrows | cc |
| 9 | arrows | arrow | NOUN | Number=Plur | 7 bow | conj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | cut down | gerund | them = they | with his bow and arrows | vn cut-21.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Patient with bow=Instrument |
Option 2
By striking them with his sword as they came near
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | By | by | SCONJ | _ | 2 striking | mark |
| 2 | striking | strike | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 9 came | advcl |
| 3 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 2 striking | obj |
| 4 | with | with | ADP | _ | 6 sword | case |
| 5 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 6 sword | nmod:poss |
| 6 | sword | sword | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 striking | obl |
| 7 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 9 came | mark |
| 8 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 9 came | nsubj |
| 9 | came | come | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 10 | near | near | ADV | _ | 9 came | advmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | strike | gerund | they not said here | them = they | with his sword | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent they=Patient with sword=Instrument | |||
| 2 | come | past | they | near property | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer
By striking them with his sword upon their approach
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | By | by | SCONJ | _ | 2 striking | mark |
| 2 | striking | strike | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | root | root |
| 3 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 2 striking | obj |
| 4 | with | with | ADP | _ | 6 sword | case |
| 5 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 6 sword | nmod:poss |
| 6 | sword | sword | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 striking | obl |
| 7 | upon | upon | ADP | _ | 9 approach | case |
| 8 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 9 approach | nmod:poss |
| 9 | approach | approach | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 sword | nmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | strike | gerund | them = they | with his sword upon their approach | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent they=Patient with sword=Instrument | ||||
| 2 | approach | their = they | nom approach «act intransitive»: poss=agent |
Option 4
By striking them with his sword the moment they rose out of the princess's nostrils
The tree, 16 words
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | By | by | SCONJ | _ | 2 striking | mark |
| 2 | striking | strike | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 10 rose | advcl |
| 3 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 2 striking | obj |
| 4 | with | with | ADP | _ | 6 sword | case |
| 5 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 6 sword | nmod:poss |
| 6 | sword | sword | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 striking | obl |
| 7 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 8 moment | det |
| 8 | moment | moment | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 rose | nsubj |
| 9 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 10 rose | nsubj |
| 10 | rose | rise | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 11 | out | out | ADP | _ | 16 nostrils | case |
| 12 | of | of | ADP | _ | 16 nostrils | case |
| 13 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 14 princess | det |
| 14 | princess | princess | NOUN | Number=Sing | 16 nostrils | nmod:poss |
| 15 | 's | 's | PART | _ | 14 princess | case |
| 16 | nostrils | nostril | NOUN | Number=Plur | 10 rose | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | strike | gerund | the moment not said here | them = they | with his sword | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent they=Patient with sword=Instrument | |||
| 2 | rise | past | the moment | the princess's nostrils | vn assuming_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent out nostril=Location |
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/1836-pg7128-part20/e3/