Exam question 4 · Aesop's Fables, The Gamecocks and the Partridge: a strange…

In the fable of the Spendthrift and the Swallow, what was the principal cause of the young man's distress when the frost returned?

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: Spendthrift, frost, young man · What happens: be, return, distress · To what, where: principal cause, fable

This is exam question 4 of lesson 401 «Aesop's Fables, The Gamecocks and the Partridge: a stranger bird learns that the cocks fight each other too» 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	In	in	ADP	_	3 fable	case
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 fable	det
3	fable	fable	NOUN	Number=Sing	25 returned	obl
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 Spendthrift	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 Spendthrift	det
6	Spendthrift	spendthrift	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 fable	nmod
7	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 Swallow	cc
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 Swallow	det
9	Swallow	Swallow	PROPN	Number=Sing	6 Spendthrift	conj
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 cause	punct
11	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	15 cause	nsubj
12	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	15 cause	cop
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 cause	det
14	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	15 cause	amod
15	cause	cause	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 Spendthrift	conj
16	of	of	ADP	_	21 distress	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 man	det
18	young	young	ADJ	Degree=Pos	19 man	amod
19	man	man	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 distress	nmod:poss
20	's	's	PART	_	19 man	case
21	distress	distress	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 cause	nmod
22	when	when	ADV	PronType=Int	25 returned	advmod
23	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	24 frost	det
24	frost	frost	NOUN	Number=Sing	25 returned	nsubj
25	returned	return	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
26	?	?	PUNCT	_	25 returned	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	is a	past	the Spendthrift and the Swallow and the principal cause	the principal cause		of the young man's distress	tree rules
2	return	participle	the frost		the fable of the Spendthrift and the Swallow and the principal cause		vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
3	distress		the young man				nom distress «feeling transitive»: 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

He had gambled away his one good cloak on a foolish dice bet

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 gambled	nsubj
2	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 gambled	aux
3	gambled	gamble	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	root	root
4	away	away	ADV	_	3 gambled	advmod
5	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	8 cloak	nmod:poss
6	one	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	8 cloak	nummod
7	good	good	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 cloak	amod
8	cloak	cloak	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 gambled	obj
9	on	on	ADP	_	13 bet	case
10	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 bet	det
11	foolish	foolish	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 bet	amod
12	dice	dice	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 bet	compound
13	bet	bet	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 gambled	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	gamble away	past · perfect	He	his one good cloak		a foolish dice bet		away property	vn risk-94 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cloak=Pivot

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice

He had sold his one good cloak on the mistaken belief that summer had arrived and he could feast on swallows

The tree, 21 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 sold	nsubj
2	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 sold	aux
3	sold	sell	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	root	root
4	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	7 cloak	nmod:poss
5	one	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	7 cloak	nummod
6	good	good	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 cloak	amod
7	cloak	cloak	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 sold	obj
8	on	on	ADP	_	11 belief	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 belief	det
10	mistaken	mistaken	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 belief	amod
11	belief	belief	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 sold	obl
12	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	15 arrived	nsubj:pass
13	summer	summer	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 arrived	nsubj
14	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	15 arrived	aux
15	arrived	arrive	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	11 belief	acl:relcl
16	and	and	CCONJ	_	19 feast	cc
17	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	19 feast	nsubj
18	could	could	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	19 feast	aux
19	feast	feast	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	3 sold	conj
20	on	on	ADP	_	21 swallows	case
21	swallows	swallow	NOUN	Number=Plur	19 feast	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	sell	past · perfect	He	his one good cloak	the mistaken belief		vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient PP.asset»: agent=Agent cloak=Theme on belief=Asset
2	arrive	past · perfect · passive		the mistaken belief			tree rules
3	feast	could	he			on swallows	vn dine-39.5 «NP V PP.patient»: agent=Agent on swallow=Patient

Option 3

He had sold his one good cloak on the mistaken belief that summer had arrived early and stayed

The tree, 18 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 sold	nsubj
2	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 sold	aux
3	sold	sell	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	root	root
4	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	7 cloak	nmod:poss
5	one	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	7 cloak	nummod
6	good	good	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 cloak	amod
7	cloak	cloak	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 sold	obj
8	on	on	ADP	_	11 belief	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 belief	det
10	mistaken	mistaken	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 belief	amod
11	belief	belief	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 sold	obl
12	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	15 arrived	nsubj:pass
13	summer	summer	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 arrived	nsubj
14	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	15 arrived	aux
15	arrived	arrive	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	11 belief	acl:relcl
16	early	early	ADV	Degree=Pos	15 arrived	advmod
17	and	and	CCONJ	_	18 stayed	cc
18	stayed	stay	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 sold	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	sell	past · perfect	He	his one good cloak	the mistaken belief		vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient PP.asset»: agent=Agent cloak=Theme on belief=Asset
2	arrive	past · perfect · passive		the mistaken belief		early property	tree rules
3	stay	past	He not said here				vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

He had sold his one good cloak on the mistaken belief that summer had arrived

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 sold	nsubj
2	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 sold	aux
3	sold	sell	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	root	root
4	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	7 cloak	nmod:poss
5	one	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	7 cloak	nummod
6	good	good	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 cloak	amod
7	cloak	cloak	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 sold	obj
8	on	on	ADP	_	11 belief	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 belief	det
10	mistaken	mistaken	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 belief	amod
11	belief	belief	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 sold	obl
12	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	15 arrived	nsubj:pass
13	summer	summer	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 arrived	nsubj
14	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	15 arrived	aux
15	arrived	arrive	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	11 belief	acl:relcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	sell	past · perfect	He	his one good cloak		the mistaken belief			vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient PP.asset»: agent=Agent cloak=Theme on belief=Asset
2	arrive	past · perfect · passive		the mistaken belief					tree rules

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/401-pg21-part22/e4/