Exam question 1 · English Fairy Tales, Tom Thumb: the tinker takes the puddi…

Examine the events by which the protagonist, Tom Thumb, is swallowed by a cow and subsequently delivered by his mother.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you · What happens: examine, swallow, deliver · To what, where: events, protagonist

This is exam question 1 of lesson 1964 «English Fairy Tales, Tom Thumb: the tinker takes the pudding, a cow swallows Tom, a fish and a raven carry him far, and his last journey ends with a spider» 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	Examine	examine	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 events	det
3	events	event	NOUN	Number=Plur	1 Examine	obj
4	by	by	ADP	_	5 which	case
5	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	13 swallowed	obl
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 protagonist	det
7	protagonist	protagonist	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 swallowed	nsubj
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 Tom	punct
9	Tom	Tom	PROPN	Number=Sing	7 protagonist	appos
10	Thumb	Thumb	PROPN	Number=Sing	9 Tom	flat
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	7 protagonist	punct
12	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	13 swallowed	aux:pass
13	swallowed	swallow	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	1 Examine	parataxis
14	by	by	ADP	_	16 cow	case
15	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	16 cow	det
16	cow	cow	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 swallowed	obl
17	and	and	CCONJ	_	19 delivered	cc
18	subsequently	subsequently	ADV	_	19 delivered	advmod
19	delivered	deliver	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	13 swallowed	conj
20	by	by	ADP	_	22 mother	case
21	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	22 mother	nmod:poss
22	mother	mother	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 delivered	obl
23	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Examine	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	examine	imperative	you not said here	the events		vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent event=Theme
2	swallow	present · passive		the protagonist	by a cow	vn gobble-39.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient
3	deliver	participle			by protagonist's mother; subsequently property	vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=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

The mother catches the child in her apron as he falls out of the cow's mouth after the thistle bites his tongue and the cow sneezes him out.

The tree, 29 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 mother	det
2	mother	mother	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 catches	nsubj
3	catches	catch	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 child	det
5	child	child	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 catches	obj
6	in	in	ADP	_	8 apron	case
7	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	8 apron	nmod:poss
8	apron	apron	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 catches	obl
9	as	as	SCONJ	_	11 falls	mark
10	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	11 falls	nsubj
11	falls	fall	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 catches	advcl
12	out	out	ADP	_	17 mouth	case
13	of	of	ADP	_	17 mouth	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 cow	det
15	cow	cow	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 mouth	nmod:poss
16	's	's	PART	_	15 cow	case
17	mouth	mouth	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 falls	obl
18	after	after	SCONJ	_	21 bites	mark
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 thistle	det
20	thistle	thistle	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 bites	nsubj
21	bites	bite	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	11 falls	advcl
22	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	23 tongue	nmod:poss
23	tongue	tongue	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 bites	obj
24	and	and	CCONJ	_	27 sneezes	cc
25	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	26 cow	det
26	cow	cow	NOUN	Number=Sing	27 sneezes	nsubj
27	sneezes	sneeze	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	21 bites	conj
28	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	27 sneezes	obj
29	out	out	ADP	_	27 sneezes	compound:prt
30	.	.	PUNCT	_	3 catches	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	catch	present	the mother	the child	mother's apron	vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent child=Theme
2	fall	present	child		the cow's mouth	vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme out mouth=Location
3	bite	present	the thistle	thistle's tongue		vn swat-18.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tongue=Patient
4	sneeze out	present	the cow	thistle		tree rules

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

The mother catches the child in her apron as he falls from the cow's mouth.

The tree, 16 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 mother	det
2	mother	mother	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 catches	nsubj
3	catches	catch	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 child	det
5	child	child	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 catches	obj
6	in	in	ADP	_	8 apron	case
7	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	8 apron	nmod:poss
8	apron	apron	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 catches	obl
9	as	as	SCONJ	_	11 falls	mark
10	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	11 falls	nsubj
11	falls	fall	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 catches	advcl
12	from	from	ADP	_	16 mouth	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 cow	det
14	cow	cow	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 mouth	nmod:poss
15	's	's	PART	_	14 cow	case
16	mouth	mouth	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 falls	obl
17	.	.	PUNCT	_	3 catches	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	catch	present	the mother	the child		mother's apron			vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent child=Theme
2	fall	present	child			the cow's mouth			vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme from mouth=Initial_Location

Option 3

She catches him in her apron.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 catches	nsubj
2	catches	catch	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 catches	obj
4	in	in	ADP	_	6 apron	case
5	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	6 apron	nmod:poss
6	apron	apron	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 catches	obl
7	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 catches	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	catch	present	She	him = he		her apron			vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme

Option 4

The farmer's wife rescues the boy with a sheet as he drops from the beast's jaws.

The tree, 18 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 farmer	det
2	farmer	farmer	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 wife	nmod:poss
3	's	's	PART	_	2 farmer	case
4	wife	wife	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 rescues	nsubj
5	rescues	rescue	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 boy	det
7	boy	boy	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 rescues	obj
8	with	with	ADP	_	10 sheet	case
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 sheet	det
10	sheet	sheet	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 boy	nmod
11	as	as	SCONJ	_	13 drops	mark
12	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	13 drops	nsubj
13	drops	drop	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 rescues	advcl
14	from	from	ADP	_	18 jaws	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 beast	det
16	beast	beast	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 jaws	nmod:poss
17	's	's	PART	_	16 beast	case
18	jaws	jaw	NOUN	Number=Plur	13 drops	obl
19	.	.	PUNCT	_	5 rescues	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	rescue	present	the farmer's wife	the boy				with a sheet	vn steal-10.5 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent boy=Theme
2	drop	present	boy			the beast's jaws			vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme from jaw=Trajectory

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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