Exam question 1 · Book of Tales (pg18442), The Black Douglas: a castle won b…

Pray state by what means the Scottish party gained entry to the castle.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, Scottish party · What happens: pray, mean, gain · To what, where: state, entry · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 1 of lesson 345 «Book of Tales (pg18442), The Black Douglas: a castle won back at dusk» 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	Pray	pray	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	state	state	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Pray	obj
3	by	by	SCONJ	_	5 means	mark
4	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	5 means	nsubj
5	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	1 Pray	advcl
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 party	det
7	Scottish	Scottish	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 party	amod
8	party	party	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 gained	nsubj
9	gained	gain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 means	ccomp
10	entry	entry	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 gained	obj
11	to	to	ADP	_	13 castle	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 castle	det
13	castle	castle	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 gained	obl
14	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Pray	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	pray	imperative	you not said here	state		tree rules
2	mean	present				vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
3	gain	past	the Scottish party	entry	to the castle result	vn calibratable_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.patient V NP.extent PP.source PP.goal»: agent=Patient entry=Extent to castle=Result

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

By climbing a rope ladder

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	SCONJ	_	2 climbing	mark
2	climbing	climb	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 ladder	det
4	rope	rope	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 ladder	compound
5	ladder	ladder	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 climbing	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	climb	gerund		a rope ladder					vn run-51.3.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Initial_Location ladder=Theme

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

By ascending ladders placed against the outer wall

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	SCONJ	_	2 ascending	mark
2	ascending	ascend	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	4 placed	advcl
3	ladders	ladder	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 ascending	obj
4	placed	place	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	against	against	ADP	_	8 wall	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 wall	det
7	outer	outer	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 wall	amod
8	wall	wall	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 placed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	ascend	gerund		ladders					vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme ladder=Trajectory
2	place	participle				the outer wall			vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent against wall=Destination

Option 3

Through a breach made by the cannon fire

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Through	through	ADP	_	3 breach	case
2	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 breach	det
3	breach	breach	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	made	make	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 breach	acl
5	by	by	ADP	_	8 fire	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 fire	det
7	cannon	cannon	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 fire	compound
8	fire	fire	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 made	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	make	participle		a breach not said here				by the cannon fire	vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset

Option 4

By scaling a ladder set against the wall

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	SCONJ	_	2 scaling	mark
2	scaling	scale	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 set	det
4	ladder	ladder	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 set	compound
5	set	set	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 scaling	obj
6	against	against	ADP	_	8 wall	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 wall	det
8	wall	wall	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 scaling	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	scale	gerund		a ladder set				against the wall	vn pit-10.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent set=Source

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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