Exam question 2 · Scottish Fairy Tales, Tamlane: Burd Janet wins her knight…

Which natural element, employed by Janet, finally dissolved the spell that bound Tamlane to the Elfin court?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: natural element, spell · What happens: employ, dissolve, bind · To what, where: natural element, spell, Tamlane

This is exam question 2 of lesson 259 «Scottish Fairy Tales, Tamlane: Burd Janet wins her knight back from Elfland» 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	3 element	nsubj
2	natural	natural	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 element	amod
3	element	element	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	,	,	PUNCT	_	5 employed	punct
5	employed	employ	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 element	acl
6	by	by	ADP	_	7 Janet	case
7	Janet	Janet	PROPN	Number=Sing	5 employed	obl
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 dissolved	punct
9	finally	finally	ADV	_	10 dissolved	advmod
10	dissolved	dissolve	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 element	acl
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 spell	det
12	spell	spell	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 dissolved	obj
13	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	14 bound	nsubj
14	bound	bind	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	12 spell	acl:relcl
15	Tamlane	Tamlane	PROPN	Number=Sing	14 bound	obj
16	to	to	ADP	_	19 court	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 court	det
18	Elfin	Elfin	PROPN	Number=Sing	19 court	compound
19	court	court	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 bound	obl
20	?	?	PUNCT	_	3 element	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	employ	participle		natural element not said here	by Janet	vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
2	dissolve	participle	natural element not said here	the spell	finally property	vn break-45.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spell=Patient
3	bind	past	the spell	Tamlane	to the Elfin court	vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent tamlane=Patient to court=Co-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

The breath of the Queen herself, which burned like fire and melted the frozen ice and the snake and the glaive all at once

The tree, 24 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 breath	det
2	breath	breath	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 herself	nsubj
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 Queen	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 Queen	det
5	Queen	Queen	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 breath	nmod
6	herself	herself	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs Reflex=Yes	9 burned	obl
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 burned	punct
8	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	9 burned	nsubj
9	burned	burn	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
10	like	like	ADP	_	11 fire	case
11	fire	fire	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 burned	obl
12	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 melted	cc
13	melted	melt	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	9 burned	conj
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 ice	det
15	frozen	freeze	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	16 ice	amod
16	ice	ice	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 melted	obj
17	and	and	CCONJ	_	19 snake	cc
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 snake	det
19	snake	snake	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 ice	conj
20	and	and	CCONJ	_	22 glaive	cc
21	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	22 glaive	det
22	glaive	glaive	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 ice	conj
23	all	all	ADV	_	25 once	advmod
24	at	at	ADP	_	25 once	case
25	once	once	ADV	NumForm=Word NumType=Mult	13 melted	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	other	roles by
1	burn	past	breath	like fire	vn light_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	melt	past	the frozen ice and the snake and the glaive		vn other_cos-45.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Patient ice=Result
3	freeze	participle			vn other_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient

Option 2

Ice from the brooklet, into which the glaive was set

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Ice	ice	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
2	from	from	ADP	_	4 brooklet	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 brooklet	det
4	brooklet	brooklet	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ice	nmod
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 set	punct
6	into	into	ADP	_	7 which	case
7	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	11 set	obl
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 glaive	det
9	glaive	glaive	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 set	nsubj:pass
10	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	11 set	aux:pass
11	set	set	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	1 Ice	acl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	set	past · passive		the glaive		Ice from the brooklet			vn other_cos-45.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Result

Option 3

Water from the deep well beneath the Miles Cross, which the Queen had blessed and which had been carried by the knights through the night

The tree, 25 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 Cross	nsubj
2	from	from	ADP	_	4 deep	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 deep	det
4	deep	deep	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Water	nmod
5	well	well	ADV	Degree=Pos	9 Cross	advmod
6	beneath	beneath	ADP	_	9 Cross	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 Cross	det
8	Miles	Miles	PROPN	Number=Sing	9 Cross	compound
9	Cross	Cross	PROPN	Number=Sing	root	root
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 blessed	punct
11	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	15 blessed	nsubj:pass
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 Queen	det
13	Queen	Queen	PROPN	Number=Sing	15 blessed	nsubj
14	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	15 blessed	aux
15	blessed	bless	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	9 Cross	parataxis
16	and	and	CCONJ	_	20 carried	cc
17	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	20 carried	nsubj:pass
18	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	20 carried	aux
19	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	20 carried	aux:pass
20	carried	carry	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	15 blessed	conj
21	by	by	ADP	_	23 knights	case
22	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	23 knights	det
23	knights	knight	NOUN	Number=Plur	20 carried	obl
24	through	through	ADP	_	26 night	case
25	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	26 night	det
26	night	night	NOUN	Number=Sing	20 carried	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	bless	past · perfect · passive		the Miles Cross					vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	carry	past · perfect · passive	the knights				night		vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

Water from the well, in which the red-hot glaive was cast

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
2	from	from	ADP	_	4 well	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 well	det
4	well	well	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Water	nmod
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 cast	punct
6	in	in	ADP	_	7 which	case
7	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	14 cast	obl
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 glaive	det
9	red	red	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 hot	amod
10	-	-	PUNCT	_	9 red	punct
11	hot	hot	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 glaive	amod
12	glaive	glaive	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 cast	nsubj:pass
13	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	14 cast	aux:pass
14	cast	cast	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	1 Water	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	cast	past · passive		the hot glaive		Water from the well			vn throw-17.1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: subject=Theme in which=Destination

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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