Exam question 4 · Arabian Nights, Sindbad the Sailor, part 25: Sindbad escap…

Which means of escape did the narrator employ to alert the passing vessel?

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: narrator · What happens: mean, employ, alert, pass · To what, where: passing vessel · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 4 of lesson 185 «Arabian Nights, Sindbad the Sailor, part 25: Sindbad escapes the snake, is rescued, gets his goods back, and meets cruel islanders» 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	2 means	nsubj
2	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 escape	case
4	escape	escape	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 employ	obl
5	did	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	8 employ	aux
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 narrator	det
7	narrator	narrator	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 employ	nsubj
8	employ	employ	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 means	ccomp
9	to	to	PART	_	10 alert	mark
10	alert	alert	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	8 employ	xcomp
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 vessel	det
12	passing	pass	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	13 vessel	amod
13	vessel	vessel	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 alert	obj
14	?	?	PUNCT	_	2 means	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	mean	present				vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
2	employ	past · do-support	the narrator		of escape	vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Agent clause=Attribute
3	alert speech: other	to-infinitive	the narrator not said here	the passing vessel		vn advise-37.9 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent vessel=Recipient
4	pass	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

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 yelled and waved his shawl

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 yelled	nsubj
2	yelled	yell	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	and	and	CCONJ	_	4 waved	cc
4	waved	wave	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 yelled	conj
5	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	6 shawl	nmod:poss
6	shawl	shawl	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 waved	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	yell speech: express	past	He						vn manner_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	wave	past	He not said here	his shawl					vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shawl=Patient

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

He shouted and waved his turban

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 shouted	nsubj
2	shouted	shout	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	and	and	CCONJ	_	4 waved	cc
4	waved	wave	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 shouted	conj
5	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	6 turban	nmod:poss
6	turban	turban	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 waved	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	shout speech: express	past	He						vn manner_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	wave	past	He not said here	his turban					vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent turban=Patient

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice

He built a signal fire on the shore and then shouted to the crew

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 built	nsubj
2	built	build	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 fire	det
4	signal	signal	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 fire	compound
5	fire	fire	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 built	obj
6	on	on	ADP	_	8 shore	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 shore	det
8	shore	shore	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 built	obl
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 shouted	cc
10	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	11 shouted	advmod
11	shouted	shout	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 built	conj
12	to	to	ADP	_	14 crew	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 crew	det
14	crew	crew	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 shouted	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	build	past	He	a signal fire		the shore			vn base-97.1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent fire=Theme on shore=Source
2	shout speech: express	past	He not said here		the crew		then		vn manner_speaking-37.3 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to crew=Recipient

Option 4

He called out and waved his cloak

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 called	nsubj
2	called	call	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	out	out	ADP	_	2 called	compound:prt
4	and	and	CCONJ	_	5 waved	cc
5	waved	wave	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 called	conj
6	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	7 cloak	nmod:poss
7	cloak	cloak	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 waved	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	call out speech: assert	past	He						vn initiate_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	wave	past	He not said here	his cloak					vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cloak=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.

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