Exam question 3 · Grimm's Tales, The Flute-Player: the youth wakes the sleep…

By what means did the youth ensure the dwarf's safe passage across the stream?

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · Who acts: youth, dwarf · What happens: mean, do, ensure, pass · To what, where: stream

This is exam question 3 of lesson 1940 «Grimm's Tales, The Flute-Player: the youth wakes the sleeping Princess and wins her kingdom» 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	By	by	ADP	_	2 what	case
2	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	4 did	obj
3	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 what	acl:relcl
4	did	do	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 youth	det
6	youth	youth	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 ensure	nsubj
7	ensure	ensure	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 did	ccomp
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 dwarf	det
9	dwarf	dwarf	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 passage	nmod:poss
10	's	's	PART	_	9 dwarf	case
11	safe	safe	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 passage	amod
12	passage	passage	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 ensure	ccomp
13	across	across	ADP	_	15 stream	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 stream	det
15	stream	stream	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 passage	nmod
16	?	?	PUNCT	_	4 did	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	where	roles by
1	mean	present			vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent
2	do	past			tree rules
3	ensure	present	the youth		vn ensure-99 «NP V that S»: agent=Precondition
4	pass		the dwarf	the stream	nom passage «act intransitive»: poss=agent across=place

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

He compelled the dwarf to part the waters with the wand, threatening to leave him stranded on the far side of the river forever

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 compelled	nsubj
2	compelled	compel	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 dwarf	det
4	dwarf	dwarf	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 compelled	obj
5	to	to	PART	_	6 part	mark
6	part	part	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 compelled	advcl
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 waters	det
8	waters	water	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 compelled	obl:unmarked
9	with	with	ADP	_	11 wand	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 wand	det
11	wand	wand	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 compelled	obl
12	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 threatening	punct
13	threatening	threaten	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 compelled	advcl
14	to	to	PART	_	15 leave	mark
15	leave	leave	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	13 threatening	xcomp
16	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	15 leave	obj
17	stranded	strand	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	15 leave	xcomp
18	on	on	ADP	_	21 side	case
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	21 side	det
20	far	far	ADJ	Degree=Pos	21 side	amod
21	side	side	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 stranded	obl
22	of	of	ADP	_	24 river	case
23	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	24 river	det
24	river	river	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 side	nmod
25	forever	forever	ADV	_	15 leave	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	compel	past	He	the dwarf		with the wand; the waters obl:unmarked	vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dwarf=Patient
2	threaten	gerund	He not said here				tree rules
3	leave not said to happen	to-infinitive	He not said here	dwarf		forever property	tree rules
4	strand	participle	dwarf not said here		the far side of the river		tree rules

Option 2

He forced the dwarf to open up the river with a magic rod

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 forced	nsubj
2	forced	force	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 dwarf	det
4	dwarf	dwarf	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 forced	obj
5	to	to	PART	_	6 open	mark
6	open	open	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 forced	xcomp
7	up	up	ADP	_	6 open	compound:prt
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 river	det
9	river	river	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 open	obj
10	with	with	ADP	_	13 rod	case
11	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 rod	det
12	magic	magic	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 rod	amod
13	rod	rod	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 open	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	force	past	He	the dwarf					vn urge-58.1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent dwarf=Recipient clause=Topic
2	open up	to-infinitive	the dwarf not said here	the river				with a magic rod	vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent river=Patient with rod=Instrument

Option 3

He compelled the dwarf to part the waters with the wand while the youth held the flute and the Princess watched from the bank

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 compelled	nsubj
2	compelled	compel	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 dwarf	det
4	dwarf	dwarf	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 compelled	obj
5	to	to	PART	_	6 part	mark
6	part	part	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 compelled	advcl
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 waters	det
8	waters	water	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 compelled	obl:unmarked
9	with	with	ADP	_	11 wand	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 wand	det
11	wand	wand	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 compelled	obl
12	while	while	SCONJ	_	15 held	mark
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 youth	det
14	youth	youth	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 held	nsubj
15	held	hold	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 compelled	advcl
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 flute	det
17	flute	flute	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 held	obj
18	and	and	CCONJ	_	21 watched	cc
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 Princess	det
20	Princess	Princess	PROPN	Number=Sing	21 watched	nsubj
21	watched	watch	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	15 held	conj
22	from	from	ADP	_	24 bank	case
23	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	24 bank	det
24	bank	bank	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 watched	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	compel	past	He	the dwarf		with the wand; the waters obl:unmarked	vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dwarf=Patient
2	hold	past	the youth	the flute			vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent flute=Theme
3	watch	past	the Princess		the bank		vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

He compelled the dwarf to part the waters with the wand

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 compelled	nsubj
2	compelled	compel	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 dwarf	det
4	dwarf	dwarf	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 compelled	obj
5	to	to	PART	_	6 part	mark
6	part	part	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 compelled	advcl
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 waters	det
8	waters	water	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 compelled	obl:unmarked
9	with	with	ADP	_	11 wand	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 wand	det
11	wand	wand	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 compelled	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	compel	past	He	the dwarf				with the wand; the waters obl:unmarked	vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dwarf=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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1940-pg7277-part77/e3/