Exam question 4 · Aesop's Fables, The Cat and the Birds: a cat posing as a d…

Identify the reason the Widow's maidens resolved to kill the cock, and the consequence of their act.

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 1 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, maidens · What happens: identify, resolve, kill, act · To what, where: reason, cock

This is exam question 4 of lesson 388 «Aesop's Fables, The Cat and the Birds: a cat posing as a doctor is sent packing» 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	Identify	identify	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 reason	det
3	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 Widow	det
5	Widow	Widow	PROPN	Number=Sing	7 maidens	nmod:poss
6	's	's	PART	_	5 Widow	case
7	maidens	maiden	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 resolved	nsubj
8	resolved	resolve	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 reason	acl:relcl
9	to	to	PART	_	10 kill	mark
10	kill	kill	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	8 resolved	xcomp
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 cock	det
12	cock	cock	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 kill	obj
13	,	,	PUNCT	_	16 consequence	punct
14	and	and	CCONJ	_	16 consequence	cc
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 consequence	det
16	consequence	consequence	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obl
17	of	of	ADP	_	19 act	case
18	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	19 act	nmod:poss
19	act	act	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 consequence	nmod
20	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	the reason	the consequence of maidens's act obl	vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme
2	resolve	past	the Widow's maidens	the reason not said here		tree rules
3	kill	to-infinitive	the Widow's maidens not said here	the cock		vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cock=Theme
4	act		maidens = maiden			nom act «communication intransitive»: poss=agent

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 · ✓ the right answer

They resented early waking, and the Widow then woke them at midnight

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 resented	nsubj
2	resented	resent	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	early	early	ADV	Degree=Pos	4 waking	advmod
4	waking	wake	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 resented	advcl
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 woke	punct
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 woke	cc
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 Widow	det
8	Widow	Widow	PROPN	Number=Sing	10 woke	nsubj
9	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	10 woke	advmod
10	woke	wake	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 resented	conj
11	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	10 woke	obj
12	at	at	ADP	_	13 midnight	case
13	midnight	midnight	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 woke	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	when	other	roles by
1	resent	past	They				vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer
2	wake	gerund	They not said here			early property	vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient
3	wake	past	the Widow	them = they	then; midnight		vn other_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent they=Patient

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice

They wished to sleep until noon, and so the Widow locked the door and woke them at midnight with a loud bell and a lamp

The tree, 25 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 wished	nsubj
2	wished	wish	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	to	to	PART	_	4 sleep	mark
4	sleep	sleep	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 wished	xcomp
5	until	until	ADP	_	6 noon	case
6	noon	noon	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 sleep	obl
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	12 locked	punct
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	12 locked	cc
9	so	so	ADV	_	12 locked	advmod
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 Widow	det
11	Widow	Widow	PROPN	Number=Sing	12 locked	nsubj
12	locked	lock	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 wished	conj
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 door	det
14	door	door	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 locked	obj
15	and	and	CCONJ	_	16 woke	cc
16	woke	wake	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 wished	conj
17	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	16 woke	obj
18	at	at	ADP	_	19 midnight	case
19	midnight	midnight	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 woke	obl
20	with	with	ADP	_	23 bell	case
21	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	23 bell	det
22	loud	loud	ADJ	Degree=Pos	23 bell	amod
23	bell	bell	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 woke	obl
24	and	and	CCONJ	_	26 lamp	cc
25	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	26 lamp	det
26	lamp	lamp	NOUN	Number=Sing	23 bell	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	when	other	roles by
1	wish	past	They				vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme
2	sleep not said to happen	to-infinitive	They not said here		noon		vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	lock	past	the Widow	the door			vn tape-22.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent door=Patient
4	wake	past	They not said here	them = they	midnight	with a loud bell and a lamp	vn other_cos-45.4 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent they=Patient with bell=Instrument

Option 3

They feared the Widow's temper, so she stayed up all night

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 feared	nsubj
2	feared	fear	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 Widow	det
4	Widow	Widow	PROPN	Number=Sing	6 temper	nmod:poss
5	's	's	PART	_	4 Widow	case
6	temper	temper	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 feared	obj
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 stayed	punct
8	so	so	ADV	_	10 stayed	advmod
9	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	10 stayed	nsubj
10	stayed	stay	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 feared	conj
11	up	up	ADP	_	10 stayed	compound:prt
12	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	13 night	det
13	night	night	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 stayed	obl:unmarked

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	when	roles by
1	fear	past	They	the Widow's temper		vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer temper=Stimulus
2	stay up	past	Widow		night	vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
3	temper		the Widow			nom temper «feeling transitive»: poss=agent

Option 4

They hated the rooster's noise, and the Widow then sent them away

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 hated	nsubj
2	hated	hate	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 rooster	det
4	rooster	rooster	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 noise	nmod:poss
5	's	's	PART	_	4 rooster	case
6	noise	noise	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 hated	obj
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	12 sent	punct
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	12 sent	cc
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 Widow	det
10	Widow	Widow	PROPN	Number=Sing	12 sent	nsubj
11	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	12 sent	advmod
12	sent	send	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 hated	conj
13	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	12 sent	obj
14	away	away	ADV	_	12 sent	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	when	other	roles by
1	hate	past	They	the rooster's noise			vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer noise=Stimulus
2	send away	past	the Widow	them = they	then	away property	vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme
3	noise		the rooster				nom noise «event intransitive»: poss=agent

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/388-pg21-part9/e4/