Test 5 · ★★ · Alice in Wonderland, chapter X, part 2: The Lobster Quadri…

Josh, tamping (furious): «why's the Mock Turtle so obsessed with explaining stuff?» What does he say?

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 2 · right ✓ · Who acts: Josh, Mock Turtle · What happens: tamp, be, explain, say · To what, where: stuff · Speech: someone speaks here

This is test 5 · ★★ of lesson 20 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter X, part 2: The Lobster Quadrille (poems gone wrong and Beautiful Soup)» of the books course of Mova's primary school. 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

Sentence 1: Josh, tamping (furious): «why's the Mock Turtle so obsessed with explaining stuff?»

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Josh	Josh	PROPN	Number=Sing	3 tamping	nsubj
2	,	,	PUNCT	_	1 Josh	punct
3	tamping	tamp	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
4	(	(	PUNCT	_	5 furious	punct
5	furious	furious	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 tamping	parataxis
6	)	)	PUNCT	_	5 furious	punct
7	:	:	PUNCT	_	3 tamping	punct
8	«	«	PUNCT	_	15 obsessed	punct
9	why	why	ADV	PronType=Int	15 obsessed	advmod
10	's	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	15 obsessed	cop
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 Turtle	det
12	Mock	Mock	PROPN	Number=Sing	13 Turtle	compound
13	Turtle	Turtle	PROPN	Number=Sing	15 obsessed	nsubj
14	so	so	ADV	_	15 obsessed	advmod
15	obsessed	obsessed	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 tamping	parataxis
16	with	with	SCONJ	_	17 explaining	mark
17	explaining	explain	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	15 obsessed	advcl
18	stuff	stuff	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 explaining	obj
19	?	?	PUNCT	_	15 obsessed	punct
20	»	»	PUNCT	_	15 obsessed	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	tamp	gerund	Josh			tree rules
2	is in a quote	present	the Mock Turtle		obsessed property	tree rules
3	explain speech: assert in a quote	gerund	the Mock Turtle not said here	stuff		vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stuff=Topic

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.

Sentence 2: What does he say?

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	What	what	PRON	PronType=Int	4 say	obj
2	does	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 say	aux
3	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	4 say	nsubj
4	say	say	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
5	?	?	PUNCT	_	4 say	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	say speech: assert	present · do-support	Josh						vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent what=Topic

The options

Option 1

«Why can't he just skip the explaining and get on with the poem?»

The tree, 14 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	«	«	PUNCT	_	7 skip	punct
2	Why	why	ADV	PronType=Int	7 skip	advmod
3	ca	can	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	7 skip	aux
4	n't	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	7 skip	advmod
5	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	7 skip	nsubj
6	just	just	ADV	_	7 skip	advmod
7	skip	skip	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 explaining	det
9	explaining	explain	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	7 skip	xcomp
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 get	cc
11	get	get	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	9 explaining	conj
12	on	on	ADV	_	11 get	advmod
13	with	with	ADP	_	15 poem	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 poem	det
15	poem	poem	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 get	obl
16	?	?	PUNCT	_	7 skip	punct
17	»	»	PUNCT	_	7 skip	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	other	roles by
1	not skip in a quote	can	he		tree rules
2	explain speech: assert in a quote	gerund	he not said here		vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	get on in a quote	infinitive	he not said here	with the poem	vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Experiencer

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

«What is the use of repeating all that stuff, if you don't explain it as you go on?»

The tree, 19 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	«	«	PUNCT	_	5 use	punct
2	What	what	PRON	PronType=Int	5 use	nsubj
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 use	cop
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 use	det
5	use	use	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	of	of	SCONJ	_	7 repeating	mark
7	repeating	repeat	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 use	acl
8	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	10 stuff	det:predet
9	that	that	DET	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	10 stuff	det
10	stuff	stuff	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 repeating	obj
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	16 explain	punct
12	if	if	SCONJ	_	16 explain	mark
13	you	you	PRON	Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs	16 explain	nsubj
14	do	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	16 explain	aux
15	n't	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	16 explain	advmod
16	explain	explain	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	5 use	parataxis
17	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	16 explain	obj
18	as	as	SCONJ	_	20 go	mark
19	you	you	PRON	Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs	20 go	nsubj
20	go	go	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	16 explain	advcl
21	on	on	ADV	_	20 go	advmod
22	?	?	PUNCT	_	5 use	punct
23	»	»	PUNCT	_	5 use	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	is a in a quote	present		the use	tree rules
2	repeat in a quote	gerund	the use not said here	all stuff	vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stuff=Eventuality
3	not explain speech: assert a condition, not said to happen, in a quote	present · do-support	you	stuff	vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Topic
4	go on in a quote	present	you		vn function-105.2.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 3

«Honestly, what is the use of any of this chatter about soup, lobsters and explanations, if nobody will just tell a plain story to the end?»

The tree, 26 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	«	«	PUNCT	_	7 use	punct
2	Honestly	honestly	ADV	_	7 use	advmod
3	,	,	PUNCT	_	2 Honestly	punct
4	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	7 use	nsubj
5	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 use	cop
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 use	det
7	use	use	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
8	of	of	ADP	_	12 chatter	case
9	any	any	DET	PronType=Ind	12 chatter	det
10	of	of	ADP	_	12 chatter	case
11	this	this	DET	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	12 chatter	det
12	chatter	chatter	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 use	nmod
13	about	about	ADP	_	14 soup	case
14	soup	soup	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 chatter	nmod
15	,	,	PUNCT	_	16 lobsters	punct
16	lobsters	lobster	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 chatter	conj
17	and	and	CCONJ	_	18 explanations	cc
18	explanations	explanation	NOUN	Number=Plur	16 lobsters	conj
19	,	,	PUNCT	_	24 tell	punct
20	if	if	SCONJ	_	24 tell	mark
21	nobody	nobody	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Neg	24 tell	nsubj
22	will	will	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	24 tell	aux
23	just	just	ADV	_	24 tell	advmod
24	tell	tell	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	7 use	parataxis
25	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	27 story	det
26	plain	plain	ADJ	Degree=Pos	27 story	amod
27	story	story	NOUN	Number=Sing	24 tell	obj
28	to	to	ADP	_	30 end	case
29	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	30 end	det
30	end	end	NOUN	Number=Sing	24 tell	obl
31	?	?	PUNCT	_	7 use	punct
32	»	»	PUNCT	_	7 use	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a in a quote	present		the use				of any chatter about soup and lobsters and explanations; honestly property	tree rules
2	tell speech: assert a condition, not said to happen, in a quote	future	nobody	a plain story	the end				vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent story=Topic to end=Recipient

Option 4

«What is the point of all this repeating and explaining, when nobody here ever finishes a single sentence or gets to the end of anything?»

The tree, 25 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	«	«	PUNCT	_	5 point	punct
2	What	what	PRON	PronType=Int	5 point	nsubj
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 point	cop
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 point	det
5	point	point	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 finishes	nsubj:outer
6	of	of	ADP	_	9 repeating	case
7	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	9 repeating	det:predet
8	this	this	DET	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	9 repeating	det
9	repeating	repeating	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 point	nmod
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 explaining	cc
11	explaining	explain	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	9 repeating	conj
12	,	,	PUNCT	_	17 finishes	punct
13	when	when	ADV	PronType=Int	17 finishes	advmod
14	nobody	nobody	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Neg	17 finishes	nsubj
15	here	here	ADV	PronType=Dem	14 nobody	advmod
16	ever	ever	ADV	PronType=Ind	17 finishes	advmod
17	finishes	finish	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
18	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	20 sentence	det
19	single	single	ADJ	Degree=Pos	20 sentence	amod
20	sentence	sentence	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 finishes	obj
21	or	or	CCONJ	_	22 gets	cc
22	gets	get	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	17 finishes	conj
23	to	to	ADP	_	25 end	case
24	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	25 end	det
25	end	end	NOUN	Number=Sing	22 gets	obl
26	of	of	ADP	_	27 anything	case
27	anything	anything	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Ind	25 end	nmod
28	?	?	PUNCT	_	17 finishes	punct
29	»	»	PUNCT	_	17 finishes	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	when	other	roles by
1	is a in a quote	present		the point		of all repeating	tree rules
2	explain speech: assert in a quote	gerund					vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	finish in a quote	present	the point	a single sentence	ever		vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Subeventuality sentence=Eventuality
4	get in a quote	present	the point not said here		to the end of anything		vn convert-26.6.2 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Patient to end=Result

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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