Exam question 2 · English Fairy Tales, The Fish and the Ring: a baron tries…

Which of the following accurately states the means by which the girl came into possession of the baron's ring?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: the, girl · What happens: follow, state, mean, come, possess · To what, where: possession, ring · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 2 of lesson 1971 «English Fairy Tales, The Fish and the Ring: a baron tries to drown the girl he has fated for his son, and a ring saves her» 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	6 states	nsubj
2	of	of	SCONJ	_	6 states	mark
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 states	det
4	following	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	6 states	nsubj
5	accurately	accurately	ADV	_	6 states	advmod
6	states	state	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 means	nsubj
8	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 states	ccomp
9	by	by	ADP	_	10 which	case
10	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	13 came	obl
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 girl	det
12	girl	girl	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 came	nsubj
13	came	come	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	8 means	ccomp
14	into	into	ADP	_	15 possession	case
15	possession	possession	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 came	obl
16	of	of	ADP	_	20 ring	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 baron	det
18	baron	baron	NOUN	Number=Sing	20 ring	nmod:poss
19	's	's	PART	_	18 baron	case
20	ring	ring	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 possession	nmod
21	?	?	PUNCT	_	6 states	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund					vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	state speech: other	present				accurately property	vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
3	mean	present	the				vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
4	come	past	the girl		possession of the baron's ring		vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme into possession=Initial_Location
5	possess			the baron's ring			nom possession «act transitive»: of=patient

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

She discovered it within a large fish that she had been instructed to clean for the feast in the hall

The tree, 20 words

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 discovered	nsubj
2	discovered	discover	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 discovered	obj
4	within	within	ADP	_	7 fish	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 fish	det
6	large	large	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 fish	amod
7	fish	fish	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 discovered	obl
8	that	that	SCONJ	_	12 instructed	mark
9	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	12 instructed	nsubj:pass
10	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	12 instructed	aux
11	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	12 instructed	aux:pass
12	instructed	instruct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 discovered	advcl
13	to	to	PART	_	14 clean	mark
14	clean	clean	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	12 instructed	xcomp
15	for	for	ADP	_	17 feast	case
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 feast	det
17	feast	feast	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 clean	obl
18	in	in	ADP	_	20 hall	case
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 hall	det
20	hall	hall	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 clean	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	discover	past	She	it		within a large fish	vn discover-84-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Topic
2	instruct speech: other	past · perfect · passive		fish			vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP how S_INF»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic
3	clean	to-infinitive			the hall	for the feast	vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient

Option 2

She discovered it within a fish she had been instructed to clean by the cook at the castle

The tree, 18 words

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 discovered	nsubj
2	discovered	discover	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 discovered	obj
4	within	within	ADP	_	6 fish	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 fish	det
6	fish	fish	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 discovered	obl
7	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	10 instructed	nsubj:pass
8	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	10 instructed	aux
9	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	10 instructed	aux:pass
10	instructed	instruct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 fish	acl:relcl
11	to	to	PART	_	12 clean	mark
12	clean	clean	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 discovered	advcl
13	by	by	ADP	_	15 cook	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 cook	det
15	cook	cook	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 clean	obl
16	at	at	ADP	_	18 castle	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 castle	det
18	castle	castle	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 clean	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	discover	past	She	it		within a fish	vn discover-84-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Topic
2	instruct speech: other	past · perfect · passive	a fish not said here	fish			vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient
3	clean	to-infinitive	She not said here		the castle	by the cook	vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

She discovered it within a fish she had been instructed to clean

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 discovered	nsubj
2	discovered	discover	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 discovered	obj
4	within	within	ADP	_	6 fish	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 fish	det
6	fish	fish	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 discovered	obl
7	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	10 instructed	nsubj:pass
8	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	10 instructed	aux
9	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	10 instructed	aux:pass
10	instructed	instruct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 fish	acl:relcl
11	to	to	PART	_	12 clean	mark
12	clean	clean	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	10 instructed	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	discover	past	She	it	within a fish	vn discover-84-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Topic
2	instruct speech: other	past · perfect · passive	a fish not said here	fish		vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP how S_INF»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic
3	clean	to-infinitive	a fish not said here			vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient

Option 4

She found it while cleaning a fish from the fisherman's net

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 found	nsubj
2	found	find	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 found	obj
4	while	while	SCONJ	_	5 cleaning	mark
5	cleaning	clean	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 found	advcl
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 fish	det
7	fish	fish	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 cleaning	obj
8	from	from	ADP	_	12 net	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 fisherman	det
10	fisherman	fisherman	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 net	nmod:poss
11	's	's	PART	_	10 fisherman	case
12	net	net	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 cleaning	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	find	past	She	it					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Topic
2	clean	gerund	She not said here	a fish		the fisherman's net			vn clear-10.3 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent fish=Theme from net=Source

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/1971-pg7439-part30/e2/