Exam question 4 · Aesop's Fables, The Ass and the Lapdog, part 8: a jealous…
Which moral lesson is conveyed by the conduct of the Ass in this fable?
Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: conduct · What happens: convey, conduct · To what, where: moral lesson, fable, Ass
This is exam question 4 of lesson 387 «Aesop's Fables, The Ass and the Lapdog, part 8: a jealous donkey copies a pampered lapdog and gets beaten» 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 | DET | PronType=Int | 3 lesson | det |
| 2 | moral | moral | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 lesson | amod |
| 3 | lesson | lesson | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 conveyed | nsubj:pass |
| 4 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 5 conveyed | aux:pass |
| 5 | conveyed | convey | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 6 | by | by | ADP | _ | 8 conduct | case |
| 7 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 8 conduct | det |
| 8 | conduct | conduct | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 conveyed | obl |
| 9 | of | of | ADP | _ | 11 Ass | case |
| 10 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 11 Ass | det |
| 11 | Ass | Ass | PROPN | Number=Sing | 8 conduct | nmod |
| 12 | in | in | ADP | _ | 14 fable | case |
| 13 | this | this | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 14 fable | det |
| 14 | fable | fable | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 conveyed | obl |
| 15 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 5 conveyed | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | convey | present · passive | the conduct of the Ass | which moral lesson | this fable | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent subject=Topic | |||
| 2 | conduct | the Ass | nom conduct «act transitive»: 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
one should never wish for another's life, because hidden troubles lie under every easy path
The tree, 16 words
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | one | one | PRON | Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 4 wish | nsubj |
| 2 | should | should | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 4 wish | aux |
| 3 | never | never | ADV | PronType=Neg | 4 wish | advmod |
| 4 | wish | wish | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | root | root |
| 5 | for | for | ADP | _ | 8 life | case |
| 6 | another | another | DET | PronType=Ind | 8 life | nmod:poss |
| 7 | 's | 's | PART | _ | 6 another | case |
| 8 | life | life | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 wish | obl |
| 9 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 13 lie | punct |
| 10 | because | because | SCONJ | _ | 13 lie | mark |
| 11 | hidden | hidden | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 12 troubles | amod |
| 12 | troubles | trouble | NOUN | Number=Plur | 13 lie | nsubj |
| 13 | lie | lie | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 wish | parataxis |
| 14 | under | under | ADP | _ | 17 path | case |
| 15 | every | every | DET | PronType=Tot | 17 path | det |
| 16 | easy | easy | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 17 path | amod |
| 17 | path | path | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 lie | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | not wish | should | one | for another's life | vn long-32.2 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Pivot for life=Theme | ||||
| 2 | lie | present | hidden troubles | every easy path | vn assuming_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent under path=Location |
Option 2
everyone should be satisfied with their own fortune and do their proper duty in life
The tree, 15 words
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | everyone | everyone | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Tot | 4 satisfied | nsubj |
| 2 | should | should | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 4 satisfied | aux |
| 3 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 4 satisfied | cop |
| 4 | satisfied | satisfied | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 5 | with | with | ADP | _ | 8 fortune | case |
| 6 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 8 fortune | nmod:poss |
| 7 | own | own | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 8 fortune | amod |
| 8 | fortune | fortune | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 satisfied | obl |
| 9 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 10 do | cc |
| 10 | do | do | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 satisfied | conj |
| 11 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 13 duty | nmod:poss |
| 12 | proper | proper | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 13 duty | amod |
| 13 | duty | duty | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 do | obj |
| 14 | in | in | ADP | _ | 15 life | case |
| 15 | life | life | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 do | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | should | everyone | with their own fortune; satisfied property | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | do | present | everyone not said here | their proper duty | life | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent duty=Eventuality |
Option 3 · ✓ the right answer
one should be content with one's own lot
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | one | one | PRON | Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 4 content | nsubj |
| 2 | should | should | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 4 content | aux |
| 3 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 4 content | cop |
| 4 | content | content | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 5 | with | with | ADP | _ | 9 lot | case |
| 6 | one | one | PRON | Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 9 lot | nmod:poss |
| 7 | 's | 's | PART | _ | 6 one | case |
| 8 | own | own | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 9 lot | amod |
| 9 | lot | lot | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 content | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | should | one | with one's own lot; content property | tree rules |
Option 4 · ← Mova's choice
always work hard and rest well
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | always | always | ADV | PronType=Tot | 2 work | advmod |
| 2 | work | work | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | hard | hard | ADV | Degree=Pos | 2 work | advmod |
| 4 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 5 rest | cc |
| 5 | rest | rest | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | 2 work | conj |
| 6 | well | well | ADV | Degree=Pos | 5 rest | advmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | work | imperative | you not said here | always, hard property | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 2 | rest | infinitive | you not said here | well property | vn spatial_configuration-47.6-1 «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/387-pg21-part8/e4/