Exam question 2 · A Wonder-Book, The Minotaur, part 4: Medea's poisoned wine…

By what means did Medea propose that the poison be administered to Theseus?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: Medea · What happens: mean, propose, administer · To what, where: poison, Theseus

This is exam question 2 of lesson 2045 «A Wonder-Book, The Minotaur, part 4: Medea's poisoned wine nearly kills Theseus before his father recognizes him» 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=Rel	6 propose	obl
3	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 what	acl:relcl
4	did	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 propose	aux
5	Medea	Medea	PROPN	Number=Sing	6 propose	nsubj
6	propose	propose	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
7	that	that	SCONJ	_	11 administered	mark
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 poison	det
9	poison	poison	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 administered	nsubj
10	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	11 administered	aux:pass
11	administered	administer	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 propose	ccomp
12	to	to	ADP	_	13 Theseus	case
13	Theseus	Theseus	PROPN	Number=Sing	11 administered	obl
14	?	?	PUNCT	_	6 propose	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	roles by
1	mean	present				vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent
2	propose	past · do-support	Medea			vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
3	administer	infinitive · passive		the poison	Theseus	vn contribute-13.2-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: subject=Theme to theseus=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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

By a single drop placed in a goblet of wine

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	ADP	_	4 drop	case
2	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 drop	det
3	single	single	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 drop	amod
4	drop	drop	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	placed	place	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 drop	acl
6	in	in	ADP	_	8 goblet	case
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 goblet	det
8	goblet	goblet	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 placed	obl
9	of	of	ADP	_	10 wine	case
10	wine	wine	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 goblet	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	place	participle		a single drop not said here		a goblet of wine			vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent in goblet=Destination

Option 2

By a single drop, slipped secretly into a goblet of wine offered to him at the feast by the king

The tree, 20 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	ADP	_	4 drop	case
2	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 drop	det
3	single	single	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 drop	amod
4	drop	drop	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 slipped	obl
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	4 drop	punct
6	slipped	slip	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
7	secretly	secretly	ADV	_	6 slipped	advmod
8	into	into	ADP	_	10 goblet	case
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 goblet	det
10	goblet	goblet	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 slipped	obl
11	of	of	ADP	_	12 wine	case
12	wine	wine	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 goblet	nmod
13	offered	offer	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	12 wine	acl
14	to	to	ADP	_	15 him	case
15	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	13 offered	obl
16	at	at	ADP	_	18 feast	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 feast	det
18	feast	feast	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 offered	obl
19	by	by	ADP	_	21 king	case
20	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	21 king	det
21	king	king	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 slipped	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	slip	past				a goblet of wine		by a single drop; by the king; secretly property	vn calibratable_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute
2	offer	participle		wine not said here	him = he	the feast			vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP PP.goal»: agent=Agent to he=Goal

Option 3

By a mixture hidden in his honey cake

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	ADP	_	3 mixture	case
2	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 mixture	det
3	mixture	mixture	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	hidden	hide	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 mixture	acl
5	in	in	ADP	_	8 cake	case
6	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	8 cake	nmod:poss
7	honey	honey	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 cake	compound
8	cake	cake	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 hidden	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	hide	participle		a mixture not said here		his honey cake			vn concealment-16-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in cake=Location

Option 4

By a single drop in his bowl of broth

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	ADP	_	4 drop	case
2	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 drop	det
3	single	single	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 drop	amod
4	drop	drop	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	in	in	ADP	_	7 bowl	case
6	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	7 bowl	nmod:poss
7	bowl	bowl	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 drop	nmod
8	of	of	ADP	_	9 broth	case
9	broth	broth	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 bowl	nmod

The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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