Exam question 1 · English Fairy Tales, The Pedlar of Swaffham: a poor pedlar…
Which of the following describes the location of the pedlar's treasure, as stated by the shopkeeper in the narrative?
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: pedlar · What happens: follow, describe, state, treasure · To what, where: location
This is exam question 1 of lesson 249 «English Fairy Tales, The Pedlar of Swaffham: a poor pedlar dreams of London Bridge and finds a treasure at home» 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 describes | nsubj |
| 2 | of | of | SCONJ | _ | 5 describes | mark |
| 3 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 5 describes | det |
| 4 | following | follow | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 5 describes | nsubj |
| 5 | describes | describe | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 location | det |
| 7 | location | location | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 describes | obj |
| 8 | of | of | ADP | _ | 12 treasure | case |
| 9 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 10 pedlar | det |
| 10 | pedlar | pedlar | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 treasure | nmod:poss |
| 11 | 's | 's | PART | _ | 10 pedlar | case |
| 12 | treasure | treasure | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 location | nmod |
| 13 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 15 stated | punct |
| 14 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 15 stated | mark |
| 15 | stated | state | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 5 describes | advcl |
| 16 | by | by | ADP | _ | 18 shopkeeper | case |
| 17 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 18 shopkeeper | det |
| 18 | shopkeeper | shopkeeper | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 stated | obl |
| 19 | in | in | ADP | _ | 21 narrative | case |
| 20 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 21 narrative | det |
| 21 | narrative | narrative | NOUN | Number=Sing | 18 shopkeeper | nmod |
| 22 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 5 describes | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | follow | gerund | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||||
| 2 | describe | present | the location of the pedlar's treasure | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent location=Theme | |||||
| 3 | state speech: other | participle | by the shopkeeper in the narrative | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 4 | treasure | the pedlar | nom treasure «possession transitive»: poss=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
An oak in Swaffham
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | An | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 2 oak | det |
| 2 | oak | oak | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 3 | in | in | ADP | _ | 4 Swaffham | case |
| 4 | Swaffham | Swaffham | PROPN | Number=Sing | 2 oak | nmod |
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.
Option 2
Behind a pedlar's house
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Behind | behind | ADP | _ | 5 house | case |
| 2 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 pedlar | det |
| 3 | pedlar | pedlar | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 house | nmod:poss |
| 4 | 's | 's | PART | _ | 3 pedlar | case |
| 5 | house | house | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.
Option 3 · ✓ the right answer
An oak-tree in an orchard behind a pedlar's house in Swaffham
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | An | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 4 tree | det |
| 2 | oak | oak | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 tree | compound |
| 3 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 2 oak | punct |
| 4 | tree | tree | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 5 | in | in | ADP | _ | 7 orchard | case |
| 6 | an | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 7 orchard | det |
| 7 | orchard | orchard | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 tree | nmod |
| 8 | behind | behind | ADP | _ | 12 house | case |
| 9 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 10 pedlar | det |
| 10 | pedlar | pedlar | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 house | nmod:poss |
| 11 | 's | 's | PART | _ | 10 pedlar | case |
| 12 | house | house | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 tree | nmod |
| 13 | in | in | ADP | _ | 14 Swaffham | case |
| 14 | Swaffham | Swaffham | PROPN | Number=Sing | 12 house | nmod |
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.
Option 4
A pear tree in a field behind a merchant's barn in the town of Lynn
The tree, 16 words
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 tree | det |
| 2 | pear | pear | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 tree | compound |
| 3 | tree | tree | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 4 | in | in | ADP | _ | 6 field | case |
| 5 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 6 field | det |
| 6 | field | field | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 tree | nmod |
| 7 | behind | behind | ADP | _ | 11 barn | case |
| 8 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 9 merchant | det |
| 9 | merchant | merchant | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 barn | nmod:poss |
| 10 | 's | 's | PART | _ | 9 merchant | case |
| 11 | barn | barn | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 tree | nmod |
| 12 | in | in | ADP | _ | 14 town | case |
| 13 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 14 town | det |
| 14 | town | town | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 barn | nmod |
| 15 | of | of | ADP | _ | 16 Lynn | case |
| 16 | Lynn | Lynn | PROPN | Number=Sing | 14 town | 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.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/249-pg14241-part16/e1/