Exam question 4 · Andersen's Tales, The Shoes of Fortune, part 9: the clerk…

Which of the following correctly describes the clerk's sense of his own abilities at the close of this part?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: clerk · What happens: follow, describe, sense · To what, where: own abilities

This is exam question 4 of lesson 282 «Andersen's Tales, The Shoes of Fortune, part 9: the clerk dreams he is a lark, is caught by a sailor-boy and is sold to two schoolboys» 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	10 sense	nsubj
2	of	of	ADP	_	10 sense	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 sense	det
4	following	follow	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	10 sense	case
5	correctly	correctly	ADV	_	6 describes	advmod
6	describes	describe	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 sense	csubj
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 clerk	det
8	clerk	clerk	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 sense	nmod:poss
9	's	's	PART	_	8 clerk	case
10	sense	sense	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
11	of	of	ADP	_	14 abilities	case
12	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	14 abilities	nmod:poss
13	own	own	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 abilities	amod
14	abilities	ability	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 sense	nmod
15	at	at	ADP	_	17 close	case
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 close	det
17	close	close	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 abilities	nmod
18	of	of	ADP	_	20 part	case
19	this	this	DET	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	20 part	det
20	part	part	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 close	nmod
21	?	?	PUNCT	_	10 sense	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	describe	present			correctly property	vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Agent
3	sense		the clerk	his own abilities at the close of this part		nom sense «cognition transitive»: poss=agent of=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

He is a copying-clerk who has become a bird, but who still feels proud of the tragedy he wrote about the golden spirits

The tree, 24 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	6 clerk	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 clerk	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 clerk	det
4	copying	copying	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 clerk	compound
5	-	-	PUNCT	_	4 copying	punct
6	clerk	clerk	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
7	who	who	PRON	PronType=Rel	9 become	nsubj
8	has	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	9 become	aux
9	become	become	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	6 clerk	acl:relcl
10	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 bird	det
11	bird	bird	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 become	xcomp
12	,	,	PUNCT	_	16 feels	punct
13	but	but	CCONJ	_	16 feels	cc
14	who	who	PRON	PronType=Rel	16 feels	nsubj
15	still	still	ADV	_	16 feels	advmod
16	feels	feel	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 clerk	parataxis
17	proud	proud	ADJ	Degree=Pos	16 feels	xcomp
18	of	of	ADP	_	20 tragedy	case
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 tragedy	det
20	tragedy	tragedy	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 proud	obl
21	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	22 wrote	nsubj
22	wrote	write	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	20 tragedy	acl:relcl
23	about	about	ADP	_	26 spirits	case
24	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	26 spirits	det
25	golden	golden	ADJ	Degree=Pos	26 spirits	amod
26	spirits	spirit	NOUN	Number=Plur	22 wrote	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	He	a copying clerk			tree rules
2	become	present · perfect	a copying clerk	a bird			vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient
3	feel	present	a copying clerk		still	proud property	vn stimulus_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus
4	write	past	bird	the tragedy not said here		about the golden spirits	vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent tragedy=Recipient about spirit=Topic

Option 2

He is a copying-clerk who has become a bird, and who now believes he has lost all his poetry forever in the grass

The tree, 24 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	6 clerk	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 clerk	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 clerk	det
4	copying	copying	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 clerk	compound
5	-	-	PUNCT	_	4 copying	punct
6	clerk	clerk	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
7	who	who	PRON	PronType=Rel	9 become	nsubj
8	has	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	9 become	aux
9	become	become	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	6 clerk	acl:relcl
10	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 bird	det
11	bird	bird	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 become	xcomp
12	,	,	PUNCT	_	16 believes	punct
13	and	and	CCONJ	_	16 believes	cc
14	who	who	PRON	PronType=Rel	16 believes	nsubj
15	now	now	ADV	PronType=Dem	16 believes	advmod
16	believes	believe	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 clerk	conj
17	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	19 lost	nsubj
18	has	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	19 lost	aux
19	lost	lose	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	16 believes	xcomp
20	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	22 poetry	det:predet
21	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	22 poetry	nmod:poss
22	poetry	poetry	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 lost	obj
23	forever	forever	ADV	_	19 lost	advmod
24	in	in	ADP	_	26 grass	case
25	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	26 grass	det
26	grass	grass	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 lost	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	He	a copying clerk				tree rules
2	become	present · perfect	a copying clerk	a bird				vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient
3	believe	present	a copying clerk			now		vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus
4	lose	present · perfect	bird	bird's poetry	the grass		forever property	vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent poetry=Eventuality

Option 3

He is a clerk who has become a bird and found his poetry

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	4 clerk	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 clerk	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 clerk	det
4	clerk	clerk	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	who	who	PRON	PronType=Rel	7 become	nsubj
6	has	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 become	aux
7	become	become	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	4 clerk	acl:relcl
8	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 bird	det
9	bird	bird	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 become	xcomp
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 found	cc
11	found	find	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	7 become	conj
12	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	13 poetry	nmod:poss
13	poetry	poetry	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 found	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	is a	present	He	a clerk	tree rules
2	become	present · perfect	a clerk	a bird	vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient
3	find	past	a clerk not said here	bird's poetry	vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent poetry=Topic

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

He is a copying-clerk who has become a bird and lost his poetry

The tree, 14 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	6 clerk	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 clerk	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 clerk	det
4	copying	copying	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 clerk	compound
5	-	-	PUNCT	_	4 copying	punct
6	clerk	clerk	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
7	who	who	PRON	PronType=Rel	9 become	nsubj
8	has	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	9 become	aux
9	become	become	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	6 clerk	acl:relcl
10	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 bird	det
11	bird	bird	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 become	xcomp
12	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 lost	cc
13	lost	lose	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	9 become	conj
14	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	15 poetry	nmod:poss
15	poetry	poetry	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 lost	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	is a	present	He	a copying clerk	tree rules
2	become	present · perfect	a copying clerk	a bird	vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient
3	lose	past	a copying clerk not said here	bird's poetry	vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent poetry=Eventuality

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/282-pg1597-part9/e4/