Exam question 1 · Andersen's Fairy Tales, The False Collar, part 29: a blind…

Which of the following best describes Death's responsibility for the flowers in the garden?

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, be

This is exam question 1 of lesson 302 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, The False Collar, part 29: a blind mother bargains with Death for her child, then a boastful collar starts to court a garter» 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	9 responsibility	nsubj
2	of	of	ADP	_	9 responsibility	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 responsibility	det
4	following	follow	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	9 responsibility	case
5	best	good	ADJ	Degree=Sup	9 responsibility	amod
6	describes	describe	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	9 responsibility	cop
7	Death	Death	PROPN	Number=Sing	9 responsibility	nmod:poss
8	's	's	PART	_	7 Death	case
9	responsibility	responsibility	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
10	for	for	ADP	_	12 flowers	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 flowers	det
12	flowers	flower	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 responsibility	nmod
13	in	in	ADP	_	15 garden	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 garden	det
15	garden	garden	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 flowers	nmod
16	?	?	PUNCT	_	9 responsibility	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	is	present						of Death's best responsibility; for the flowers in the garden	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

Death guards them as God's servant, and the mother may pick one of her choice when she asks

The tree, 19 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Death	death	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 guards	nsubj
2	guards	guard	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 guards	obj
4	as	as	ADP	_	7 servant	case
5	God	God	PROPN	Number=Sing	7 servant	nmod:poss
6	's	's	PART	_	5 God	case
7	servant	servant	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 guards	obl
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 pick	punct
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 pick	cc
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 mother	det
11	mother	mother	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 pick	nsubj
12	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	13 pick	aux
13	pick	pick	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 guards	parataxis
14	one	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	13 pick	obj
15	of	of	ADP	_	17 choice	case
16	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	17 choice	nmod:poss
17	choice	choice	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 one	nmod
18	when	when	ADV	PronType=Int	20 asks	advmod
19	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	20 asks	nsubj
20	asks	ask	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 guards	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	guard	present	Death	them = they	as God's servant	vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Beneficiary
2	pick	may	the mother	one of mother's choice		vn chew-39.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent one=Patient
3	ask speech: ask	present	Death			vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

Death tends them as God's gardener and may not pluck one before the Lord gives leave

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Death	death	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 tends	nsubj
2	tends	tend	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 tends	obj
4	as	as	ADP	_	7 gardener	case
5	God	God	PROPN	Number=Sing	7 gardener	nmod:poss
6	's	's	PART	_	5 God	case
7	gardener	gardener	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 tends	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 pluck	cc
9	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	11 pluck	aux
10	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	11 pluck	advmod
11	pluck	pluck	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 tends	conj
12	one	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	11 pluck	obj
13	before	before	SCONJ	_	16 gives	mark
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 Lord	det
15	Lord	Lord	PROPN	Number=Sing	16 gives	nsubj
16	gives	give	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	11 pluck	advcl
17	leave	leave	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 gives	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	tend	present	Death	them = they	as God's gardener	vn caring-75.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme
2	not pluck	may	Death not said here	one		vn braid-41.2.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent one=Patient
3	give	present	the Lord	leave		vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent leave=Theme

Option 3

Death guards them as God's servant and must ask before picking

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Death	death	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 guards	nsubj
2	guards	guard	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 guards	obj
4	as	as	ADP	_	7 servant	case
5	God	God	PROPN	Number=Sing	7 servant	nmod:poss
6	's	's	PART	_	5 God	case
7	servant	servant	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 guards	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 ask	cc
9	must	must	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	10 ask	aux
10	ask	ask	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 guards	conj
11	before	before	SCONJ	_	12 picking	mark
12	picking	pick	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	10 ask	advcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	guard	present	Death	them = they	as God's servant	vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Beneficiary
2	ask speech: ask	must	Death not said here			vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	pick	gerund	Death not said here			vn chew-39.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice

Death tends them as God's gardener and may not pluck one before the Lord gives leave, and the mother must learn to wait for her child

The tree, 27 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Death	death	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 tends	nsubj
2	tends	tend	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 tends	obj
4	as	as	ADP	_	7 gardener	case
5	God	God	PROPN	Number=Sing	7 gardener	nmod:poss
6	's	's	PART	_	5 God	case
7	gardener	gardener	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 tends	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 pluck	cc
9	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	11 pluck	aux
10	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	11 pluck	advmod
11	pluck	pluck	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 tends	conj
12	one	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	11 pluck	obj
13	before	before	SCONJ	_	16 gives	mark
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 Lord	det
15	Lord	Lord	PROPN	Number=Sing	16 gives	nsubj
16	gives	give	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	11 pluck	advcl
17	leave	leave	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	16 gives	ccomp
18	,	,	PUNCT	_	23 learn	punct
19	and	and	CCONJ	_	23 learn	cc
20	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	21 mother	det
21	mother	mother	NOUN	Number=Sing	23 learn	nsubj
22	must	must	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	23 learn	aux
23	learn	learn	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 tends	conj
24	to	to	PART	_	25 wait	mark
25	wait	wait	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	23 learn	xcomp
26	for	for	ADP	_	28 child	case
27	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	28 child	nmod:poss
28	child	child	NOUN	Number=Sing	25 wait	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	tend	present	Death	them = they	as God's gardener	vn caring-75.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme
2	not pluck	may	Death not said here	one		vn braid-41.2.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent one=Patient
3	give	present	the Lord			tree rules
4	leave	infinitive	the Lord not said here			vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
5	learn	must	the mother			vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
6	wait	to-infinitive	the mother not said here		for mother's child	vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/302-pg1597-part29/e1/