Exam question 2 · The Wind in the Willows, chapter VIII, part 1: Toad's Adve…

Ascertain the agency by which the prisoner's despondency was first alleviated.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, agency, prisoner · What happens: ascertain, alleviate, despond · To what, where: agency, despondency

This is exam question 2 of lesson 52 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter VIII, part 1: Toad's Adventures (the gaoler's daughter and the buttered toast)» 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	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 agency	det
3	agency	agency	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
4	by	by	ADP	_	5 which	case
5	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	12 alleviated	obl
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 prisoner	det
7	prisoner	prisoner	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 despondency	nmod:poss
8	's	's	PART	_	7 prisoner	case
9	despondency	despondency	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 alleviated	nsubj:pass
10	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	12 alleviated	aux:pass
11	first	first	ADV	NumForm=Word NumType=Ord	12 alleviated	advmod
12	alleviated	alleviate	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 agency	acl:relcl
13	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the agency		vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent agency=Topic
2	alleviate	past · passive	the agency	the prisoner's despondency	first property	vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent subject=Patient
3	despond		the prisoner			nom despondency «feeling 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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

The odour of hot cabbage, borne in a dish of bubble-and-squeak

The tree, 13 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 odour	det
2	odour	odour	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 cabbage	case
4	hot	hot	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 cabbage	amod
5	cabbage	cabbage	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 odour	nmod
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	7 borne	punct
7	borne	bear	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 odour	acl
8	in	in	ADP	_	10 dish	case
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 dish	det
10	dish	dish	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 borne	obl
11	of	of	ADP	_	12 bubble	case
12	bubble	bubble	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 dish	nmod
13	-	-	PUNCT	_	16 squeak	punct
14	and	and	CCONJ	_	16 squeak	cc
15	-	-	PUNCT	_	14 and	punct
16	squeak	squeak	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 bubble	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	bear	participle		the odour of hot cabbage not said here		a dish of bubble and squeak			vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer

Option 2

A visit from Badger, who brought him a letter of comfort

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 visit	det
2	visit	visit	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 brought	nsubj
3	from	from	ADP	_	4 Badger	case
4	Badger	Badger	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 visit	nmod
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	7 brought	punct
6	who	who	PRON	PronType=Rel	7 brought	nsubj
7	brought	bring	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
8	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	7 brought	obj
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 letter	det
10	letter	letter	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 brought	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	12 comfort	case
12	comfort	comfort	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 letter	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	bring	past	a visit from Badger	a letter of comfort	Badger				vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP NP»: agent=Agent he=Destination letter=Theme
2	letter			comfort					nom letter «communication transitive»: of=patient

Option 3

The strong smell of the hot cabbage that the gaoler's daughter brought him on a dish of bubble-and-squeak

The tree, 21 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 smell	det
2	strong	strong	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 smell	amod
3	smell	smell	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 brought	nsubj
4	of	of	ADP	_	7 cabbage	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 cabbage	det
6	hot	hot	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 cabbage	amod
7	cabbage	cabbage	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 smell	nmod
8	that	that	SCONJ	_	13 brought	mark
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 gaoler	det
10	gaoler	gaoler	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 daughter	nmod:poss
11	's	's	PART	_	10 gaoler	case
12	daughter	daughter	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 brought	nsubj
13	brought	bring	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
14	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	13 brought	obj
15	on	on	ADP	_	17 dish	case
16	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	17 dish	det
17	dish	dish	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 brought	obl
18	of	of	ADP	_	19 bubble	case
19	bubble	bubble	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 dish	nmod
20	-	-	PUNCT	_	23 squeak	punct
21	and	and	CCONJ	_	23 squeak	cc
22	-	-	PUNCT	_	21 and	punct
23	squeak	squeak	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 bubble	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	bring	past	the strong smell of the hot cabbage		him = he	a dish of bubble and squeak			vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Instrument he=Destination
2	smell		the hot cabbage						nom smell «cognition intransitive»: of=agent

Option 4

The arrival of the warm bread, cheese and cider from home

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 arrival	det
2	arrival	arrival	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	6 bread	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 bread	det
5	warm	warm	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 bread	amod
6	bread	bread	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 arrival	nmod
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 cheese	punct
8	cheese	cheese	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 bread	conj
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 cider	cc
10	cider	cider	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 bread	conj
11	from	from	ADP	_	12 home	case
12	home	home	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 cider	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	arrive		the warm bread and cheese and cider from home						nom arrival «act intransitive»: of=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.

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