Exam question 3 · pg7277, The Golden Blackbird, part 2: the stolen palace re…

State the reason the eldest brother gave for abandoning his quest for the Golden Blackbird at the inn.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: State reason, brother · What happens: give, abandon, quest · To what, where: quest, inn

This is exam question 3 of lesson 1897 «pg7277, The Golden Blackbird, part 2: the stolen palace returns home, and the youngest son meets the hare and the Porcelain Maiden» 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	State	state	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 reason	compound
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 reason	det
3	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 gave	nsubj
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 brother	det
5	eldest	eld	ADJ	Degree=Sup	6 brother	amod
6	brother	brother	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 gave	nsubj
7	gave	give	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
8	for	for	SCONJ	_	9 abandoning	mark
9	abandoning	abandon	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	7 gave	advcl
10	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	11 quest	nmod:poss
11	quest	quest	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 abandoning	obj
12	for	for	ADP	_	15 Blackbird	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 Blackbird	det
14	Golden	golden	ADJ	Degree=Pos	15 Blackbird	amod
15	Blackbird	Blackbird	PROPN	Number=Sing	9 abandoning	obl
16	at	at	ADP	_	18 inn	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 inn	det
18	inn	inn	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 abandoning	obl
19	.	.	PUNCT	_	7 gave	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	give	past	the State reason				vn break_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient
2	abandon	gerund	the State reason not said here	brother's quest	the inn	for the Golden Blackbird	vn leave-51.2 «NP V NP.initial_location»: agent=Theme quest=Source
3	quest		brother				nom quest «cognition intransitive»: poss=agent

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 whole quest was a waste of time since his father was elderly, and he would inherit all the goods anyway, once the old man was gone and buried

The tree, 31 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	5 quest	det
4	whole	whole	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 quest	amod
5	quest	quest	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 waste	nsubj
6	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	8 waste	cop
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 waste	det
8	waste	waste	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 said	ccomp
9	of	of	ADP	_	10 time	case
10	time	time	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 waste	nmod
11	since	since	SCONJ	_	15 elderly	mark
12	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	13 father	nmod:poss
13	father	father	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 elderly	nsubj
14	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	15 elderly	cop
15	elderly	elderly	ADV	_	2 said	ccomp
16	,	,	PUNCT	_	20 inherit	punct
17	and	and	CCONJ	_	20 inherit	cc
18	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	20 inherit	nsubj
19	would	would	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	20 inherit	aux
20	inherit	inherit	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 said	parataxis
21	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	23 goods	det:predet
22	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	23 goods	det
23	goods	goods	NOUN	Number=Ptan	20 inherit	obj
24	anyway	anyway	ADV	_	20 inherit	advmod
25	,	,	PUNCT	_	31 gone	punct
26	once	once	SCONJ	_	31 gone	mark
27	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	29 man	det
28	old	old	ADJ	Degree=Pos	29 man	amod
29	man	man	NOUN	Number=Sing	31 gone	nsubj
30	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	31 gone	cop
31	gone	gone	ADJ	Degree=Pos	20 inherit	advcl
32	and	and	CCONJ	_	33 buried	cc
33	buried	bury	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	31 gone	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	when	other	roles by
1	say speech: assert	past	He				vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent
2	is a	past	the whole quest	a waste	time		tree rules
3	is	past	his father			elderly property	tree rules
4	inherit	would	he	all goods		anyway property	vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent goods=Theme
5	is	past	the old man			gone property	tree rules
6	bury	participle	the old man not said here				vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

He reasoned that his father was elderly and that he would inherit his goods

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 reasoned	nsubj
2	reasoned	reason	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	that	that	SCONJ	_	7 elderly	mark
4	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	5 father	nmod:poss
5	father	father	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 elderly	nsubj
6	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	7 elderly	cop
7	elderly	elderly	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 reasoned	advcl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	12 inherit	cc
9	that	that	SCONJ	_	12 inherit	mark
10	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	12 inherit	nsubj
11	would	would	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	12 inherit	aux
12	inherit	inherit	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 reasoned	conj
13	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	14 goods	nmod:poss
14	goods	goods	NOUN	Number=Ptan	12 inherit	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	reason	past	He			vn deduce-97.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent
2	is	past	his father		elderly property	tree rules
3	inherit	would	he	his goods		vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent goods=Theme

Option 3

He reasoned that the father was old and soon would die, leaving him everything, so there was no need to keep searching for the bird

The tree, 25 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 reasoned	nsubj
2	reasoned	reason	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	that	that	SCONJ	_	7 old	mark
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 father	det
5	father	father	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 old	nsubj
6	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	7 old	cop
7	old	old	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 reasoned	ccomp
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 die	cc
9	soon	soon	ADV	Degree=Pos	11 die	advmod
10	would	would	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	11 die	aux
11	die	die	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	7 old	conj
12	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 leaving	punct
13	leaving	leave	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	11 die	advcl
14	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	13 leaving	obj
15	everything	everything	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Tot	13 leaving	obj
16	,	,	PUNCT	_	19 was	punct
17	so	so	ADV	_	19 was	advmod
18	there	there	PRON	PronType=Dem	19 was	expl
19	was	be	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 reasoned	parataxis
20	no	no	DET	PronType=Neg	21 need	det
21	need	need	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 was	nsubj
22	to	to	PART	_	23 keep	mark
23	keep	keep	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	21 need	acl
24	searching	search	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	23 keep	xcomp
25	for	for	ADP	_	27 bird	case
26	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	27 bird	det
27	bird	bird	NOUN	Number=Sing	24 searching	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	reason	past	He				vn deduce-97.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent
2	is	past	the father			old property	tree rules
3	die	would	the father not said here			soon property	vn calibratable_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute
4	leave	gerund	the father not said here	him = he			vn sustain-55.6-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent he=Theme everything=Attribute
5	be	past	no need		there		vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
6	keep	to-infinitive	no need not said here				tree rules
7	search	gerund	no need not said here			for the bird	vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.theme NP.location»: agent=Agent for bird=Theme

Option 4

He figured the search would cost more than his father's whole estate

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 figured	nsubj
2	figured	figure	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 search	det
4	search	search	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 cost	nsubj
5	would	would	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	6 cost	aux
6	cost	cost	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 figured	ccomp
7	more	more	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	6 cost	obj
8	than	than	ADP	_	13 estate	case
9	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	10 father	nmod:poss
10	father	father	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 estate	nmod:poss
11	's	's	PART	_	10 father	case
12	whole	whole	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 estate	amod
13	estate	estate	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 more	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	figure	past	He						tree rules
2	cost	would	the search	more					vn cost-54.2 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme more=Value

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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