Exam question 1 · Russian Fairy Tales, The Golden Mermaid: the Prince catche…

Which course of action did the Prince adopt upon hearing the mermaid's summons, in accordance with the wolf's instruction?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: course, wolf · What happens: adopt, hear, instruct · To what, where: summons, accordance

This is exam question 1 of lesson 1935 «Russian Fairy Tales, The Golden Mermaid: the Prince catches the mermaid, but his jealous brothers kill him and the wolf brings him back to life» 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	DET	PronType=Int	2 course	det
2	course	course	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 adopt	nsubj
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 action	case
4	action	action	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 course	nmod
5	did	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	8 adopt	aux
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 Prince	det
7	Prince	Prince	PROPN	Number=Sing	8 adopt	nsubj
8	adopt	adopt	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
9	upon	upon	SCONJ	_	10 hearing	mark
10	hearing	hear	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	8 adopt	advcl
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 mermaid	det
12	mermaid	mermaid	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 summons	nmod:poss
13	's	's	PART	_	12 mermaid	case
14	summons	summon	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 hearing	obj
15	,	,	PUNCT	_	17 accordance	punct
16	in	in	ADP	_	17 accordance	case
17	accordance	accordance	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 hearing	obl
18	with	with	ADP	_	22 instruction	case
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 wolf	det
20	wolf	wolf	NOUN	Number=Sing	22 instruction	nmod:poss
21	's	's	PART	_	20 wolf	case
22	instruction	instruction	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 accordance	nmod
23	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 adopt	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	adopt	past · do-support	which course of action			vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
2	hear	gerund	which course of action not said here	the mermaid's summons	accordance with the wolf's instruction	vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer summon=Stimulus
3	instruct		the wolf			nom instruction «communication transitive»: 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 shouted to the mermaid to wait, then turned the boat around and tried to reach the wolf in the water before she could

The tree, 24 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 shouted	nsubj
2	shouted	shout	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	to	to	ADP	_	5 mermaid	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 mermaid	det
5	mermaid	mermaid	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 shouted	obl
6	to	to	PART	_	7 wait	mark
7	wait	wait	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 shouted	advcl
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 turned	punct
9	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	10 turned	advmod
10	turned	turn	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 shouted	conj
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 boat	det
12	boat	boat	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 turned	obj
13	around	around	ADV	_	10 turned	advmod
14	and	and	CCONJ	_	15 tried	cc
15	tried	try	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 shouted	conj
16	to	to	PART	_	17 reach	mark
17	reach	reach	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	15 tried	xcomp
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 wolf	det
19	wolf	wolf	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 reach	obj
20	in	in	ADP	_	22 water	case
21	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	22 water	det
22	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 reach	obl
23	before	before	SCONJ	_	25 could	mark
24	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	25 could	nsubj
25	could	could	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	17 reach	advcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	shout speech: express	past	He		the mermaid				vn manner_speaking-37.3 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to mermaid=Recipient
2	wait	to-infinitive	He not said here						vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
3	turn around	past	He not said here	the boat			then	around property	vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent boat=Theme
4	try	past	He not said here						vn try-61.1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality
5	reach not said to happen	to-infinitive	He not said here	the wolf		the water			vn body_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent wolf=Theme

Option 2

He refused every one of her pleas and kept steering the vessel straight back toward the land as the wolf had instructed

The tree, 22 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 refused	nsubj
2	refused	refuse	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	every	every	DET	PronType=Tot	4 one	det
4	one	one	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 refused	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	7 pleas	case
6	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	7 pleas	nmod:poss
7	pleas	plea	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 one	nmod
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 kept	cc
9	kept	keep	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 refused	conj
10	steering	steer	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	9 kept	xcomp
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 vessel	det
12	vessel	vessel	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 steering	obj
13	straight	straight	ADV	_	14 back	advmod
14	back	back	ADV	_	10 steering	advmod
15	toward	toward	ADP	_	17 land	case
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 land	det
17	land	land	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 steering	obl
18	as	as	SCONJ	_	22 instructed	mark
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 wolf	det
20	wolf	wolf	NOUN	Number=Sing	22 instructed	nsubj:pass
21	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	22 instructed	aux
22	instructed	instruct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	10 steering	advcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	refuse	past	He	every one of her pleas		vn reject-77.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent one=Theme
2	keep	past	He not said here			tree rules
3	steer	gerund	He not said here	the vessel	the land	vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent vessel=Theme toward land=Destination
4	instruct speech: other	past · perfect · passive		the wolf		vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

He disregarded her calls and steered towards the land

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 disregarded	nsubj
2	disregarded	disregard	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	4 calls	nmod:poss
4	calls	call	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 disregarded	obj
5	and	and	CCONJ	_	6 steered	cc
6	steered	steer	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 disregarded	conj
7	towards	towards	ADP	_	9 land	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 land	det
9	land	land	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 steered	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	disregard	past	He	her calls		vn neglect-75.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent call=Theme
2	steer	past	He not said here		the land	vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent towards land=Destination
3	call		her = she			nom call «communication transitive»: poss=agent

Option 4

He answered her and turned the ship around

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 answered	nsubj
2	answered	answer	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	her	she	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 answered	obj
4	and	and	CCONJ	_	5 turned	cc
5	turned	turn	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 answered	conj
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 ship	det
7	ship	ship	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 turned	obj
8	around	around	ADV	_	5 turned	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	answer speech: assert	past	He		her = she				vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent she=Eventuality
2	turn around	past	He not said here	the ship				around property	vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent ship=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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1935-pg7277-part72/e1/