Exam question 3 · Hauff's Tales, The Caliph Stork, part 9: the storks forget…

Which of the following is the most accurate account of the warning given before the transformation?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, be, give · To what, where: warning

This is exam question 3 of lesson 1872 «Hauff's Tales, The Caliph Stork, part 9: the storks forget the magic word and spend a night in a haunted ruin» 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	9 account	nsubj
2	of	of	ADP	_	9 account	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 account	det
4	following	follow	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	9 account	case
5	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	9 account	cop
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 account	det
7	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	8 accurate	advmod
8	accurate	accurate	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 account	amod
9	account	account	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
10	of	of	ADP	_	12 warning	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 warning	det
12	warning	warning	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 account	nmod
13	given	give	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	12 warning	acl
14	before	before	ADP	_	16 transformation	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 transformation	det
16	transformation	transformation	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 given	obl
17	?	?	PUNCT	_	9 account	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	when	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	is	present			of the accurate account; of the warning	tree rules
3	give	participle	the warning not said here	before the transformation		vn break_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=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 · ← Mova's choice

The travellers were instructed not to laugh, lest the magic be lost and their forms become permanent

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 travellers	det
2	travellers	traveller	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 instructed	nsubj:pass
3	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 instructed	aux:pass
4	instructed	instruct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	7 laugh	advmod
6	to	to	PART	_	7 laugh	mark
7	laugh	laugh	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 instructed	xcomp
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 lost	punct
9	lest	lest	SCONJ	_	13 lost	mark
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 magic	det
11	magic	magic	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 lost	nsubj:pass
12	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	13 lost	aux:pass
13	lost	lose	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 instructed	conj
14	and	and	CCONJ	_	17 become	cc
15	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	16 forms	nmod:poss
16	forms	form	NOUN	Number=Plur	17 become	nsubj
17	become	become	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	13 lost	conj
18	permanent	permanent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	17 become	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	instruct speech: other	past · passive		the travellers		vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP how S_INF»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic
2	not laugh	to-infinitive				vn nonverbal_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	lose	infinitive · passive		the magic		vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality
4	become	present	travellers's forms		permanent property	vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient
5	form		travellers = traveller			nom form «communication transitive»: poss=agent

Option 2

The travellers were instructed not to laugh, lest the magic be lost, and not to speak a single word aloud

The tree, 20 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 travellers	det
2	travellers	traveller	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 instructed	nsubj:pass
3	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 instructed	aux:pass
4	instructed	instruct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	7 laugh	advmod
6	to	to	PART	_	7 laugh	mark
7	laugh	laugh	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 instructed	xcomp
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 lost	punct
9	lest	lest	SCONJ	_	13 lost	mark
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 magic	det
11	magic	magic	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 lost	nsubj:pass
12	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	13 lost	aux:pass
13	lost	lose	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 instructed	conj
14	,	,	PUNCT	_	18 speak	punct
15	and	and	CCONJ	_	18 speak	cc
16	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	18 speak	advmod
17	to	to	PART	_	18 speak	mark
18	speak	speak	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	4 instructed	parataxis
19	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	21 word	det
20	single	single	ADJ	Degree=Pos	21 word	amod
21	word	word	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 speak	obj
22	aloud	aloud	ADV	_	18 speak	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	other	roles by
1	instruct speech: other	past · passive	the travellers		vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP how S_INF»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic
2	not laugh	to-infinitive			vn nonverbal_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	lose	infinitive · passive	the magic		vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality
4	not speak speech: other	to-infinitive	a single word	aloud property	tree rules

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

The travellers were instructed not to laugh, lest the magic be lost

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 travellers	det
2	travellers	traveller	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 instructed	nsubj:pass
3	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 instructed	aux:pass
4	instructed	instruct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	7 laugh	advmod
6	to	to	PART	_	7 laugh	mark
7	laugh	laugh	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 instructed	xcomp
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 lost	punct
9	lest	lest	SCONJ	_	13 lost	mark
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 magic	det
11	magic	magic	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 lost	nsubj:pass
12	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	13 lost	aux:pass
13	lost	lose	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 instructed	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	roles by
1	instruct speech: other	past · passive	the travellers	vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP how S_INF»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic
2	not laugh	to-infinitive		vn nonverbal_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	lose	infinitive · passive	the magic	vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality

Option 4

The men were ordered to fast, lest the spirits return soon

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 men	det
2	men	man	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 ordered	nsubj
3	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 ordered	aux:pass
4	ordered	order	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	to	to	ADP	_	6 fast	case
6	fast	fast	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 ordered	obl
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 return	punct
8	lest	lest	SCONJ	_	11 return	mark
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 spirits	det
10	spirits	spirit	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 return	nsubj
11	return	return	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 ordered	conj
12	soon	soon	ADV	Degree=Pos	11 return	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	order	past · passive		the men				to fast	vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	return	present	the spirits					soon property	vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

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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