Exam question 1 · Grimm's Household Tales, The Fisherman and His Wife, part…

In what manner does the fisherman respond to the flounder's plea for release, and what does the text state as his reason?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: fisherman · What happens: respond, do · To what, where: manner, text state

This is exam question 1 of lesson 1937 «Grimm's Household Tales, The Fisherman and His Wife, part 1: a greedy wife keeps asking the flounder for more» 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	In	in	ADP	_	3 manner	case
2	what	what	DET	PronType=Int	3 manner	det
3	manner	manner	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 respond	obl
4	does	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 respond	aux
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 fisherman	det
6	fisherman	fisherman	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 respond	nsubj
7	respond	respond	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
8	to	to	ADP	_	12 plea	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 flounder	det
10	flounder	flounder	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 plea	nmod:poss
11	's	's	PART	_	10 flounder	case
12	plea	plea	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 respond	obl
13	for	for	ADP	_	14 release	case
14	release	release	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 plea	nmod
15	,	,	PUNCT	_	18 does	punct
16	and	and	CCONJ	_	18 does	cc
17	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	18 does	nsubj
18	does	do	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 respond	conj
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	21 state	det
20	text	text	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 state	compound
21	state	state	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 does	obj
22	as	as	ADP	_	24 reason	case
23	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	24 reason	nmod:poss
24	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 does	obl
25	?	?	PUNCT	_	7 respond	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	respond speech: other	present · do-support	the fisherman			what manner		to the flounder's plea for release	vn respond-113 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent to plea=Theme
2	do	present		the text state				as fisherman's reason	vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent state=Eventuality

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 lets it go after a long argument with his wife, who begs him to take the flounder home and keep it as a pet fish forever.

The tree, 27 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 lets	nsubj
2	lets	let	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 lets	obj
4	go	go	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 lets	xcomp
5	after	after	ADP	_	8 argument	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 argument	det
7	long	long	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 argument	amod
8	argument	argument	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 go	obl
9	with	with	ADP	_	11 wife	case
10	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	11 wife	nmod:poss
11	wife	wife	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 argument	nmod
12	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 begs	punct
13	who	who	PRON	PronType=Rel	14 begs	nsubj
14	begs	beg	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	11 wife	acl:relcl
15	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	14 begs	obj
16	to	to	PART	_	17 take	mark
17	take	take	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	14 begs	xcomp
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 flounder	det
19	flounder	flounder	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 take	obj
20	home	home	ADV	_	17 take	advmod
21	and	and	CCONJ	_	22 keep	cc
22	keep	keep	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	17 take	conj
23	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	22 keep	obj
24	as	as	ADP	_	27 fish	case
25	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	27 fish	det
26	pet	pet	NOUN	Number=Sing	27 fish	compound
27	fish	fish	NOUN	Number=Sing	22 keep	obl
28	forever	forever	ADV	_	22 keep	advmod
29	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 lets	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	when	other	roles by
1	let	present	He	it				tree rules
2	go	infinitive				after a long argument with his wife		vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
3	beg speech: request	present	his wife		him = he			vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic
4	take not said to happen	to-infinitive	his wife not said here	the flounder			home property	vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent flounder=Theme
5	keep	present	his wife not said here	flounder			as a pet fish; forever property	vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme

Option 2

He eats it at once, deciding a fish that talks is no danger to him.

The tree, 15 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 eats	nsubj
2	eats	eat	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 eats	obj
4	at	at	ADP	_	5 once	case
5	once	once	ADV	NumForm=Word NumType=Mult	2 eats	obl
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	7 deciding	punct
7	deciding	decide	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	14 danger	csubj
8	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 fish	det
9	fish	fish	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 deciding	obj
10	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	11 talks	nsubj
11	talks	talk	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	9 fish	acl:relcl
12	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	14 danger	cop
13	no	no	DET	PronType=Neg	14 danger	det
14	danger	danger	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 eats	parataxis
15	to	to	ADP	_	16 him	case
16	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	14 danger	nmod
17	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 eats	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	roles by
1	eat	present	He	it		vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient
2	decide	gerund		a fish		vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent fish=Topic
3	talk	present	a fish			vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent
4	is a	present	deciding	no danger	fish	tree rules

Option 3

He keeps it, thinking a flounder that talks would make a fine dinner.

The tree, 13 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 keeps	nsubj
2	keeps	keep	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 keeps	obj
4	,	,	PUNCT	_	5 thinking	punct
5	thinking	think	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 keeps	advcl
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 flounder	det
7	flounder	flounder	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 make	nsubj
8	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	9 talks	nsubj
9	talks	talk	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 flounder	acl:relcl
10	would	would	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	11 make	aux
11	make	make	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	5 thinking	ccomp
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 dinner	det
13	fine	fine	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 dinner	amod
14	dinner	dinner	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 make	obj
15	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 keeps	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	keep	present	He	it	vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme
2	think speech: other	gerund	He not said here		vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
3	talk	present	a flounder		vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent
4	make	would	a flounder	a fine dinner	vn build-26.1-1 «NP.material V NP»: agent=Material dinner=Product

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

He releases it, reasoning that a flounder able to speak deserves to swim away.

The tree, 14 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 releases	nsubj
2	releases	release	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 releases	obj
4	,	,	PUNCT	_	5 reasoning	punct
5	reasoning	reason	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 releases	advcl
6	that	that	SCONJ	_	12 deserves	mark
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 flounder	det
8	flounder	flounder	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 deserves	nsubj
9	able	able	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 flounder	amod
10	to	to	PART	_	11 speak	mark
11	speak	speak	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	8 flounder	acl
12	deserves	deserve	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 reasoning	advcl
13	to	to	PART	_	14 swim	mark
14	swim	swim	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	12 deserves	xcomp
15	away	away	ADV	_	14 swim	advmod
16	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 releases	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	release	present	He	it		vn free-10.6.3-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Causer it=Source
2	reason	gerund	He not said here			vn deduce-97.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent
3	speak speech: other	to-infinitive	a flounder not said here			vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent
4	deserve	present	a flounder			tree rules
5	swim away	to-infinitive	a flounder not said here		away property	vn run-51.3.2-1 «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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1937-pg7277-part74/e1/