Exam question 2 · Tales of Rome, Horatius at the Bridge: Horatius holds the…

Of what material was the bridge over the river constructed, and what was its principal function within the account?

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 3 · right ✓ · Who acts: river, bridge · What happens: be, construct · To what, where: bridge, principal function

This is exam question 2 of lesson 352 «Tales of Rome, Horatius at the Bridge: Horatius holds the bridge alone and saves Rome from Porsena's army» 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	Of	of	ADP	_	2 what	case
2	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	6 bridge	nsubj
3	material	material	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 what	nsubj
4	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 bridge	cop
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 bridge	det
6	bridge	bridge	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
7	over	over	SCONJ	_	10 constructed	mark
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 river	det
9	river	river	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 constructed	nsubj
10	constructed	construct	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 bridge	advcl
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	17 function	punct
12	and	and	CCONJ	_	17 function	cc
13	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	17 function	nsubj
14	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	17 function	cop
15	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	17 function	nmod:poss
16	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	17 function	amod
17	function	function	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 bridge	conj
18	within	within	ADP	_	20 account	case
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 account	det
20	account	account	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 function	nmod
21	?	?	PUNCT	_	6 bridge	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	is a	past		the bridge and river's principal function		tree rules
2	construct	past	the river			vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
3	is a	past	the bridge and river's principal function	river's principal function	within the account	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

It was built of stone, and it was the meeting place where the citizens gathered to trade

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 built	nsubj:pass
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 built	aux:pass
3	built	build	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	5 stone	case
5	stone	stone	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 built	obl
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	12 place	punct
7	and	and	CCONJ	_	12 place	cc
8	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	12 place	nsubj
9	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	12 place	cop
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 place	det
11	meeting	meeting	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 place	compound
12	place	place	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 built	parataxis
13	where	where	ADV	PronType=Rel	16 gathered	advmod
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 citizens	det
15	citizens	citizen	NOUN	Number=Plur	16 gathered	nsubj
16	gathered	gather	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	12 place	acl:relcl
17	to	to	PART	_	18 trade	mark
18	trade	trade	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	16 gathered	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	build	past · passive		It	of stone	vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product
2	is a	past	stone	the meeting place		tree rules
3	gather	past	the citizens			vn deduce-97.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
4	trade	to-infinitive	the citizens not said here			vn exchange-13.6.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

Option 2

Made of stone, a crossing

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Made	make	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
2	of	of	ADP	_	3 stone	case
3	stone	stone	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Made	obl
4	,	,	PUNCT	_	6 crossing	punct
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 crossing	det
6	crossing	crossing	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 stone	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	make	participle						of stone and a crossing	vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

It was constructed of wood, and it was the crossing point which the enemy sought to seize

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 constructed	nsubj:pass
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 constructed	aux:pass
3	constructed	construct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	5 wood	case
5	wood	wood	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 constructed	obl
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	12 point	punct
7	and	and	CCONJ	_	12 point	cc
8	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	12 point	nsubj
9	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	12 point	cop
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 point	det
11	crossing	crossing	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 point	compound
12	point	point	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 constructed	parataxis
13	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	16 sought	obj
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 enemy	det
15	enemy	enemy	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 sought	nsubj
16	sought	seek	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	12 point	acl:relcl
17	to	to	PART	_	18 seize	mark
18	seize	seize	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	16 sought	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	construct	past · passive		It	of wood	vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: subject=Result
2	is a	past	wood	the crossing point		tree rules
3	seek	past	the enemy	the crossing point		tree rules
4	seize not said to happen	to-infinitive	the enemy not said here			vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

Option 4

It was constructed of brick, and it served as the main gate the enemy wished to burn

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 constructed	nsubj:pass
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 constructed	aux:pass
3	constructed	construct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	5 brick	case
5	brick	brick	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 constructed	obl
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 served	punct
7	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 served	cc
8	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	9 served	nsubj
9	served	serve	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 constructed	parataxis
10	as	as	ADP	_	13 gate	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 gate	det
12	main	main	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 gate	amod
13	gate	gate	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 served	obl
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 enemy	det
15	enemy	enemy	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 wished	nsubj
16	wished	wish	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	9 served	conj
17	to	to	PART	_	18 burn	mark
18	burn	burn	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	16 wished	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	construct	past · passive		It	of brick	vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: subject=Result
2	serve	past	brick		as the main gate	vn masquerade-29.6-2 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Agent as gate=Attribute
3	wish	past	the enemy			vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme
4	burn not said to happen	to-infinitive	the enemy not said here			vn light_emission-43.1 «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.

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