Exam question 2 · Aesop's Fables, The Ass and His Driver: a bolting ass is h…

In the fable of the Thrush and the Fowler, by what means was the bird finally captured?

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 3 · right ✓ · Who acts: fable · What happens: mean, be, capture · To what, where: bird

This is exam question 2 of lesson 404 «Aesop's Fables, The Ass and His Driver: a bolting ass is hauled back by the tail, and the fables that follow each end with a small lesson.» 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	16 bird	nsubj
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 Thrush	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 Thrush	det
6	Thrush	Thrush	PROPN	Number=Sing	3 fable	nmod
7	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 Fowler	cc
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 Fowler	det
9	Fowler	fowler	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 Thrush	conj
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 means	punct
11	by	by	SCONJ	_	13 means	mark
12	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	13 means	nsubj
13	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 fable	parataxis
14	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	16 bird	cop
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 bird	det
16	bird	bird	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
17	finally	finally	ADV	_	18 captured	advmod
18	captured	capture	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	16 bird	acl
19	?	?	PUNCT	_	16 bird	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	mean	present	the fable of the Thrush and the Fowler			vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent
2	is a	past	the fable of the Thrush and the Fowler	the bird		tree rules
3	capture	participle		the bird not said here	finally property	vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=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

By reeds smeared with sticky glue that the fowler had hidden in the marsh all morning.

The tree, 16 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	ADP	_	2 reeds	case
2	reeds	reed	NOUN	Number=Plur	root	root
3	smeared	smear	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 reeds	acl
4	with	with	ADP	_	6 glue	case
5	sticky	sticky	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 glue	amod
6	glue	glue	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 smeared	obl
7	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	11 hidden	nsubj:pass
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 fowler	det
9	fowler	fowler	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 hidden	nsubj:pass
10	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	11 hidden	aux
11	hidden	hide	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 glue	acl:relcl
12	in	in	ADP	_	14 marsh	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 marsh	det
14	marsh	marsh	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 hidden	obl
15	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	16 morning	det
16	morning	morning	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 marsh	nmod:unmarked
17	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 reeds	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	smear	participle		reeds not said here				with sticky glue	vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP.destination PP.theme»: agent=Agent with glue=Theme
2	hide	past · perfect · passive		sticky glue		the marsh all morning			vn concealment-16-1 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Patient in marsh=Location

Option 2

By a cage made of willow wood.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	ADP	_	3 cage	case
2	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 cage	det
3	cage	cage	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	made	make	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 cage	acl
5	of	of	ADP	_	7 wood	case
6	willow	willow	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 wood	compound
7	wood	wood	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 made	obl
8	.	.	PUNCT	_	3 cage	punct

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

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

By reeds smeared with birdlime.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	ADP	_	2 reeds	case
2	reeds	reed	NOUN	Number=Plur	root	root
3	smeared	smear	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 reeds	acl
4	with	with	ADP	_	5 birdlime	case
5	birdlime	birdlime	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 smeared	obl
6	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 reeds	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	smear	participle		reeds not said here				with birdlime	vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP.destination PP.theme»: agent=Agent with birdlime=Theme

Option 4

By a large net thrown from the tall tree over its head.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	ADP	_	4 net	case
2	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 net	det
3	large	large	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 net	amod
4	net	net	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 thrown	obl
5	thrown	throw	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	from	from	ADP	_	9 tree	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 tree	det
8	tall	tall	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 tree	amod
9	tree	tree	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 thrown	obl
10	over	over	ADP	_	12 head	case
11	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	12 head	nmod:poss
12	head	head	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 tree	nmod
13	.	.	PUNCT	_	5 thrown	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	throw	participle				the tall tree over tree's head		by a large net	vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.initial_location»: agent=Agent from tree=Initial_Location

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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