Exam question 2 · Grimm's Household Tales, The Fisherman and His Wife, part…

To what extent does the wife's ambition escalate across the successive wishes, and what is the final dignity she desires?

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: ambition, wife · What happens: escalate, be, desire, ambition · To what, where: successive wishes, final dignity

This is exam question 2 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	To	to	ADP	_	2 what	case
2	what	what	PRON	PronType=Rel	9 escalate	obl
3	extent	extent	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 does	nsubj
4	does	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	9 escalate	aux
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 wife	det
6	wife	wife	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 ambition	nmod:poss
7	's	's	PART	_	6 wife	case
8	ambition	ambition	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 escalate	nsubj
9	escalate	escalate	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
10	across	across	ADP	_	13 wishes	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 wishes	det
12	successive	successive	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 wishes	amod
13	wishes	wish	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 escalate	obl
14	,	,	PUNCT	_	20 dignity	punct
15	and	and	CCONJ	_	20 dignity	cc
16	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	20 dignity	nsubj
17	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	20 dignity	cop
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 dignity	det
19	final	final	ADJ	Degree=Pos	20 dignity	amod
20	dignity	dignity	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 escalate	obl
21	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	22 desires	nsubj
22	desires	desire	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	20 dignity	acl:relcl
23	?	?	PUNCT	_	9 escalate	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	escalate	present · do-support	the wife's ambition		the successive wishes	vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient
2	is a	present		the final dignity		tree rules
3	desire	present	ambition	the final dignity not said here		vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot dignity=Theme
4	ambition		the wife			nom ambition «feeling 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

It escalates from a humble cottage to a great stone castle, then to a kingdom, and finally she desires to become king of all the land.

The tree, 26 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 escalates	nsubj
2	escalates	escalate	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	from	from	ADP	_	6 cottage	case
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 cottage	det
5	humble	humble	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 cottage	amod
6	cottage	cottage	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 escalates	obl
7	to	to	ADP	_	11 castle	case
8	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 castle	det
9	great	great	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 castle	amod
10	stone	stone	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 castle	compound
11	castle	castle	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 escalates	obl
12	,	,	PUNCT	_	16 kingdom	punct
13	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	16 kingdom	advmod
14	to	to	ADP	_	16 kingdom	case
15	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	16 kingdom	det
16	kingdom	kingdom	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 castle	conj
17	,	,	PUNCT	_	21 desires	punct
18	and	and	CCONJ	_	21 desires	cc
19	finally	finally	ADV	_	21 desires	advmod
20	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	21 desires	nsubj
21	desires	desire	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 escalates	conj
22	to	to	PART	_	23 become	mark
23	become	become	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	21 desires	xcomp
24	king	king	NOUN	Number=Sing	23 become	xcomp
25	of	of	ADP	_	28 land	case
26	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	28 land	det:predet
27	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	28 land	det
28	land	land	NOUN	Number=Sing	24 king	nmod
29	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 escalates	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	escalate	present	It		a humble cottage	to a great stone castle and a kingdom	vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient
2	desire	present	she			finally property	vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme
3	become not said to happen	to-infinitive	she not said here	king of all land			vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice

Starting with only a small cottage she wanted, her ambition climbed higher and higher through castles and palaces until she demanded to be made king and ruler of the whole wide sea.

The tree, 32 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Starting	start	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	12 climbed	advcl
2	with	with	ADP	_	6 cottage	case
3	only	only	ADV	_	6 cottage	advmod
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 cottage	det
5	small	small	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 cottage	amod
6	cottage	cottage	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Starting	obl
7	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	8 wanted	nsubj
8	wanted	want	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 cottage	acl:relcl
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	1 Starting	punct
10	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	11 ambition	nmod:poss
11	ambition	ambition	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 climbed	nsubj
12	climbed	climb	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
13	higher	high	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	12 climbed	xcomp
14	and	and	CCONJ	_	15 higher	cc
15	higher	high	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	13 higher	conj
16	through	through	ADP	_	17 castles	case
17	castles	castle	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 climbed	obl
18	and	and	CCONJ	_	19 palaces	cc
19	palaces	palace	NOUN	Number=Plur	17 castles	conj
20	until	until	SCONJ	_	22 demanded	mark
21	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	22 demanded	nsubj
22	demanded	demand	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	12 climbed	advcl
23	to	to	PART	_	25 made	mark
24	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	25 made	aux:pass
25	made	make	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	22 demanded	ccomp
26	king	king	NOUN	Number=Sing	25 made	obj
27	and	and	CCONJ	_	28 ruler	cc
28	ruler	ruler	NOUN	Number=Sing	26 king	conj
29	of	of	ADP	_	33 sea	case
30	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	33 sea	det
31	whole	whole	ADJ	Degree=Pos	33 sea	amod
32	wide	wide	ADJ	Degree=Pos	33 sea	amod
33	sea	sea	NOUN	Number=Sing	26 king	nmod
34	.	.	PUNCT	_	12 climbed	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	start	gerund	her ambition not said here			with a small cottage	vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V PP.subeventuality»: agent=Eventuality with cottage=Subeventuality
2	want	past	she	a small cottage not said here			vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot cottage=Theme
3	climb	past	her ambition		castles and palaces	high property	vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme through castle=Trajectory
4	demand speech: request	past	ambition				vn require-103-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Precondition
5	make	to-infinitive · passive		king of the whole wide sea and ruler			vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: king=Product
6	ambition		her = she				nom ambition «feeling intransitive»: poss=agent

Option 3

It rises from a small house to a great castle, and last she wants a crown.

The tree, 16 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 rises	nsubj
2	rises	rise	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	from	from	ADP	_	6 house	case
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 house	det
5	small	small	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 house	amod
6	house	house	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 rises	obl
7	to	to	ADP	_	10 castle	case
8	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 castle	det
9	great	great	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 castle	amod
10	castle	castle	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 rises	obl
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 wants	punct
12	and	and	CCONJ	_	15 wants	cc
13	last	last	ADJ	Degree=Pos	15 wants	amod
14	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	15 wants	nsubj
15	wants	want	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 rises	advcl
16	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	17 crown	det
17	crown	crown	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 wants	obj
18	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 rises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	rise	present	It			a small house		to a great castle	vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location PP.destination»: agent=Theme from house=Initial_Location to castle=Destination
2	want	present	she	a crown					vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot crown=Theme

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

It escalates from a cottage to a castle, and finally she desires to become king.

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 escalates	nsubj
2	escalates	escalate	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	from	from	ADP	_	5 cottage	case
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 cottage	det
5	cottage	cottage	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 escalates	obl
6	to	to	ADP	_	8 castle	case
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 castle	det
8	castle	castle	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 escalates	obl
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 desires	punct
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 desires	cc
11	finally	finally	ADV	_	13 desires	advmod
12	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	13 desires	nsubj
13	desires	desire	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 escalates	conj
14	to	to	PART	_	15 become	mark
15	become	become	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	13 desires	xcomp
16	king	king	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 become	xcomp
17	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 escalates	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	escalate	present	It		a cottage	to a castle	vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient
2	desire	present	she			finally property	vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme
3	become not said to happen	to-infinitive	she not said here	king			vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient

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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