Exam question 1 · English Fairy Tales, The Master and His Pupil: a curious l…

Which of the following most accurately describes the means by which the apprentice summoned the demon?

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: the, apprentice · What happens: follow, describe, mean, summon · To what, where: demon · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 1 of lesson 1953 «English Fairy Tales, The Master and His Pupil: a curious lad calls up a demon and nearly drowns in water» 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	PRON	PronType=Rel	4 following	nsubj
2	of	of	ADP	_	4 following	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 following	det
4	following	follow	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
5	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	6 accurately	advmod
6	accurately	accurately	ADV	_	7 describes	advmod
7	describes	describe	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 following	advcl
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 means	nsubj
9	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 describes	ccomp
10	by	by	ADP	_	11 which	case
11	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	14 summoned	obl
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 apprentice	det
13	apprentice	apprentice	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 summoned	nsubj
14	summoned	summon	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	9 means	ccomp
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 demon	det
16	demon	demon	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 summoned	obj
17	?	?	PUNCT	_	4 following	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	to whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	describe	present			accurately property	vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
3	mean	present	the			vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
4	summon	past	the apprentice	the demon		vn urge-58.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent demon=Recipient

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

By pouring a mixture of herbs and blood into a copper bowl while chanting the master's name

The tree, 18 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	SCONJ	_	2 pouring	mark
2	pouring	pour	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 mixture	det
4	mixture	mixture	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 pouring	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	6 herbs	case
6	herbs	herb	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 mixture	nmod
7	and	and	CCONJ	_	8 blood	cc
8	blood	blood	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 herbs	conj
9	into	into	ADP	_	12 bowl	case
10	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 bowl	det
11	copper	copper	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 bowl	compound
12	bowl	bowl	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 pouring	obl
13	while	while	SCONJ	_	14 chanting	mark
14	chanting	chant	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 pouring	advcl
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 master	det
16	master	master	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 name	nmod:poss
17	's	's	PART	_	16 master	case
18	name	name	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 chanting	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	pour	gerund		a mixture of herbs and blood	a copper bowl	vn pour-9.5 «NP V NP PP.initial_location PP.destination»: agent=Agent mixture=Theme into bowl=Destination
2	chant	gerund		the master's name		vn manner_speaking-37.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent name=Topic
3	name		the master			nom name «communication transitive»: poss=agent

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice

By kneeling before the mirror and whispering a prayer from the old family Bible in the cellar

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	SCONJ	_	2 kneeling	mark
2	kneeling	kneel	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
3	before	before	ADP	_	5 mirror	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 mirror	det
5	mirror	mirror	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 kneeling	obl
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	7 whispering	cc
7	whispering	whisper	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 kneeling	conj
8	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 prayer	det
9	prayer	prayer	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 whispering	obj
10	from	from	ADP	_	13 family	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 family	det
12	old	old	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 family	amod
13	family	family	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 whispering	obl
14	Bible	Bible	PROPN	Number=Sing	13 family	appos
15	in	in	ADP	_	17 cellar	case
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 cellar	det
17	cellar	cellar	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 whispering	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	kneel	gerund				the mirror			vn assuming_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent before mirror=Location
2	whisper speech: assert	gerund		a prayer		the old family		in the cellar	vn manner_speaking-37.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent prayer=Topic

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

By reading aloud a line from the black book

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	SCONJ	_	2 reading	mark
2	reading	read	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
3	aloud	aloud	ADV	_	2 reading	advmod
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 line	det
5	line	line	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 reading	obj
6	from	from	ADP	_	9 book	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 book	det
8	black	black	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 book	amod
9	book	book	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 reading	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	read	gerund		a line		the black book		aloud property	vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent line=Topic from book=Source

Option 4

By singing a hymn beside the open window

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	SCONJ	_	2 singing	mark
2	singing	sing	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 hymn	det
4	hymn	hymn	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 singing	obj
5	beside	beside	ADP	_	8 window	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 window	det
7	open	open	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 window	amod
8	window	window	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 singing	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	sing speech: express	gerund		a hymn		the open window			vn sound_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location hymn=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/1953-pg7439-part12/e1/