Exam question 4 · Lang's fairy book, Prince Narcissus and the Princess Poten…

Identify the outcome of the poisoned cup, and the agent by which that outcome was averted.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you · What happens: identify, poison, avert · To what, where: outcome, agent

This is exam question 4 of lesson 1882 «Lang's fairy book, Prince Narcissus and the Princess Potentilla: Melinette saves Potentilla from poison and traps Grumedan» 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 outcome	det
3	outcome	outcome	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
4	of	of	ADP	_	7 cup	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 cup	det
6	poisoned	poison	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	7 cup	amod
7	cup	cup	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 outcome	nmod
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	17 averted	punct
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	17 averted	cc
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 agent	det
11	agent	agent	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 averted	nsubj:pass
12	by	by	ADP	_	13 which	case
13	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	17 averted	obl
14	that	that	DET	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	15 outcome	det
15	outcome	outcome	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 averted	nsubj:pass
16	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	17 averted	aux:pass
17	averted	avert	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	1 Identify	parataxis
18	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	the outcome of the poisoned cup	vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent outcome=Theme
2	poison	participle			vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
3	avert	past · passive		the agent	tree rules

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 Princess was prevented from drinking by the sudden intervention of Melinette, who turned the cup to water and Narcissus, who leapt from the roof into the hall at the last instant

The tree, 32 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 Princess	det
2	Princess	Princess	PROPN	Number=Sing	4 prevented	nsubj
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 prevented	aux:pass
4	prevented	prevent	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	from	from	SCONJ	_	6 drinking	mark
6	drinking	drink	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	4 prevented	advcl
7	by	by	ADP	_	10 intervention	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 intervention	det
9	sudden	sudden	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 intervention	amod
10	intervention	intervention	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 drinking	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	12 Melinette	case
12	Melinette	Melinette	PROPN	Number=Sing	10 intervention	nmod
13	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 turned	punct
14	who	who	PRON	PronType=Rel	15 turned	nsubj
15	turned	turn	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	10 intervention	parataxis
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 cup	det
17	cup	cup	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 turned	obj
18	to	to	ADP	_	19 water	case
19	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 turned	obl
20	and	and	CCONJ	_	21 Narcissus	cc
21	Narcissus	Narcissus	PROPN	Number=Sing	19 water	conj
22	,	,	PUNCT	_	24 leapt	punct
23	who	who	PRON	PronType=Rel	24 leapt	nsubj
24	leapt	leapt	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	19 water	acl:relcl
25	from	from	ADP	_	27 roof	case
26	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	27 roof	det
27	roof	roof	NOUN	Number=Sing	24 leapt	obl
28	into	into	ADP	_	30 hall	case
29	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	30 hall	det
30	hall	hall	NOUN	Number=Sing	24 leapt	obl
31	at	at	ADP	_	34 instant	case
32	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	34 instant	det
33	last	last	ADJ	Degree=Pos	34 instant	amod
34	instant	instant	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 turned	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	prevent	past · passive		the Princess			vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	drink	gerund		the sudden intervention of Melinette			vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent intervention=Patient
3	turn	past	the sudden intervention of Melinette	the cup	the last instant	to water and Narcissus	vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.agent V NP.theme PP.source PP.trajectory PP.destination»: agent=Agent cup=Theme to water=Source at instant=Trajectory
4	leapt	present	water and Narcissus		the roof	into the hall	tree rules
5	intervene		Melinette				nom intervention «act intransitive»: of=agent

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

The Princess was prevented from drinking by the sudden intervention of Melinette and Narcissus

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 Princess	det
2	Princess	Princess	PROPN	Number=Sing	4 prevented	nsubj
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 prevented	aux:pass
4	prevented	prevent	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	from	from	SCONJ	_	6 drinking	mark
6	drinking	drink	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	4 prevented	advcl
7	by	by	ADP	_	10 intervention	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 intervention	det
9	sudden	sudden	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 intervention	amod
10	intervention	intervention	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 drinking	obl
11	of	of	ADP	_	12 Melinette	case
12	Melinette	Melinette	PROPN	Number=Sing	10 intervention	nmod
13	and	and	CCONJ	_	14 Narcissus	cc
14	Narcissus	Narcissus	PROPN	Number=Sing	12 Melinette	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	prevent	past · passive		the Princess		vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	drink	gerund			by the sudden intervention of Melinette and Narcissus	vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	intervene		Melinette and Narcissus			nom intervention «act intransitive»: of=agent

Option 3

The Princess was prevented from drinking by the sudden intervention of Melinette and Narcissus, who arrived together through the clouds at the last moment

The tree, 24 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 Princess	det
2	Princess	Princess	PROPN	Number=Sing	4 prevented	nsubj
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 prevented	aux:pass
4	prevented	prevent	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	from	from	SCONJ	_	6 drinking	mark
6	drinking	drink	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	4 prevented	advcl
7	by	by	ADP	_	10 intervention	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 intervention	det
9	sudden	sudden	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 intervention	amod
10	intervention	intervention	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 drinking	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	12 Melinette	case
12	Melinette	Melinette	PROPN	Number=Sing	10 intervention	nmod
13	and	and	CCONJ	_	14 Narcissus	cc
14	Narcissus	Narcissus	PROPN	Number=Sing	12 Melinette	conj
15	,	,	PUNCT	_	17 arrived	punct
16	who	who	PRON	PronType=Rel	17 arrived	nsubj
17	arrived	arrive	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	10 intervention	parataxis
18	together	together	ADV	_	17 arrived	advmod
19	through	through	ADP	_	21 clouds	case
20	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	21 clouds	det
21	clouds	cloud	NOUN	Number=Plur	17 arrived	obl
22	at	at	ADP	_	25 moment	case
23	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	25 moment	det
24	last	last	ADJ	Degree=Pos	25 moment	amod
25	moment	moment	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 drinking	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	prevent	past · passive		the Princess				vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	drink	gerund		the sudden intervention of Melinette and Narcissus		moment		vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent intervention=Patient
3	arrive	past	the sudden intervention of Melinette and Narcissus		the clouds		together property	vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme through cloud=Initial_Location
4	intervene		Melinette and Narcissus					nom intervention «act intransitive»: of=agent

Option 4

The poison was revealed by a faithful bird who flew to the cup at the last moment

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 poison	det
2	poison	poison	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 revealed	nsubj
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 revealed	aux:pass
4	revealed	reveal	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	by	by	ADP	_	8 bird	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 bird	det
7	faithful	faithful	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 bird	amod
8	bird	bird	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 revealed	obl
9	who	who	PRON	PronType=Rel	10 flew	nsubj
10	flew	fly	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	8 bird	acl:relcl
11	to	to	ADP	_	13 cup	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 cup	det
13	cup	cup	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 flew	obl
14	at	at	ADP	_	17 moment	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 moment	det
16	last	last	ADJ	Degree=Pos	17 moment	amod
17	moment	moment	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 flew	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	reveal	past · passive	a faithful bird	the poison					vn confess-37.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Topic
2	fly	past	a faithful bird			the cup	moment		vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme to cup=Destination

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/1882-pg7277-part19/e4/