Exam question 1 · Tanglewood Tales, The Pygmies, part 9: Theseus comes home…

Which of the following states the reason King Aegeus gave for believing that his son was dead?

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 2 · right ✓ · Who acts: King, son · What happens: follow, state, give, believe, be · To what, where: reason · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 1 of lesson 2050 «Tanglewood Tales, The Pygmies, part 9: Theseus comes home to grief, and the Giant Antaeus is introduced as friend of the Pygmies» 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	5 states	nsubj
2	of	of	SCONJ	_	5 states	mark
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 states	det
4	following	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 states	nsubj
5	states	state	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 reason	det
7	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 states	obj
8	King	King	PROPN	Number=Sing	10 gave	nsubj
9	Aegeus	Aegeus	PROPN	Number=Sing	8 King	flat
10	gave	give	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	7 reason	acl:relcl
11	for	for	SCONJ	_	12 believing	mark
12	believing	believe	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	10 gave	advcl
13	that	that	SCONJ	_	17 dead	mark
14	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	15 son	nmod:poss
15	son	son	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 dead	nsubj
16	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	17 dead	cop
17	dead	dead	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 believing	ccomp
18	?	?	PUNCT	_	5 states	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	state speech: other	present		the reason		vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent reason=Topic
3	give	past	King	the reason not said here		vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Theme
4	believe	gerund	King not said here			vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer
5	is	past	King's son		dead property	tree rules

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

He decided that the black sails showed his son had died at sea while fighting the bull-headed beast of Crete.

The tree, 21 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 decided	nsubj
2	decided	decide	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	that	that	SCONJ	_	7 showed	mark
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 sails	det
5	black	black	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 sails	amod
6	sails	sail	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 showed	nsubj
7	showed	show	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 decided	ccomp
8	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	9 son	nmod:poss
9	son	son	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 died	nsubj
10	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	11 died	aux
11	died	die	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	7 showed	ccomp
12	at	at	ADP	_	13 sea	case
13	sea	sea	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 died	obl
14	while	while	SCONJ	_	15 fighting	mark
15	fighting	fight	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	11 died	advcl
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 beast	det
17	bull	bull	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 headed	compound
18	-	-	PUNCT	_	17 bull	punct
19	headed	head	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	20 beast	amod
20	beast	beast	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 fighting	obj
21	of	of	ADP	_	22 Crete	case
22	Crete	Crete	PROPN	Number=Sing	20 beast	nmod
23	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 decided	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	decide	past	He			vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V what S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
2	show	past	the black sails			vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
3	die	past · perfect	his son		sea	vn calibratable_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute
4	fight	gerund	his son not said here	the headed beast of Crete		vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent beast=Co-Agent
5	head	participle				vn conduct-111.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

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

He concluded that the fatal blackness of the sails proved his son had been eaten by the Minotaur.

The tree, 18 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 concluded	nsubj
2	concluded	conclude	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	that	that	SCONJ	_	10 proved	mark
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 blackness	det
5	fatal	fatal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 blackness	amod
6	blackness	blackness	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 proved	nsubj
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 sails	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 sails	det
9	sails	sail	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 blackness	nmod
10	proved	prove	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 concluded	ccomp
11	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	12 son	nmod:poss
12	son	son	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 eaten	nsubj:pass
13	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	15 eaten	aux
14	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	15 eaten	aux:pass
15	eaten	eat	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	10 proved	ccomp
16	by	by	ADP	_	18 Minotaur	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 Minotaur	det
18	Minotaur	Minotaur	PROPN	Number=Sing	15 eaten	obl
19	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 concluded	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	conclude	past	He		vn deduce-97.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
2	prove	past	the fatal blackness of the sails		vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
3	eat	past · perfect · passive	the Minotaur	blackness's son	vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient

Option 3

He believed the Minotaur had eaten him.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 believed	nsubj
2	believed	believe	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 Minotaur	det
4	Minotaur	Minotaur	PROPN	Number=Sing	6 eaten	nsubj
5	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 eaten	aux
6	eaten	eat	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	2 believed	ccomp
7	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	6 eaten	obj
8	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 believed	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	believe	past	He						vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus
2	eat	past · perfect	the Minotaur	him = he					vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Patient

Option 4

He saw the black sails and assumed the worst.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 saw	nsubj
2	saw	see	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 sails	det
4	black	black	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 sails	amod
5	sails	sail	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 saw	obj
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	7 assumed	cc
7	assumed	assume	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 saw	conj
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 worst	det
9	worst	bad	ADJ	Degree=Sup	7 assumed	obj
10	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 saw	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	see	past	He	the black sails					vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer sail=Stimulus
2	assume	past	He not said here	the worst					vn adopt-93.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bad=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.

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