Exam question 2 · Greek myths, Alcmaeon and the Necklace, part 57: the Theba…

What was the outcome of the sacrifice performed by Macaria upon the instruction of the oracle at Athens?

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · What happens: be, perform, instruct · To what, where: outcome, sacrifice, oracle

This is exam question 2 of lesson 551 «Greek myths, Alcmaeon and the Necklace, part 57: the Thebans flee, Alcmaeon kills his mother, and the Heraclidae win at Athens» 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	What	what	PRON	PronType=Int	4 outcome	nsubj
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 outcome	cop
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 outcome	det
4	outcome	outcome	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	of	of	ADP	_	7 sacrifice	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 sacrifice	det
7	sacrifice	sacrifice	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 outcome	nmod
8	performed	perform	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	7 sacrifice	acl
9	by	by	ADP	_	10 Macaria	case
10	Macaria	Macaria	PROPN	Number=Sing	8 performed	obl
11	upon	upon	ADP	_	13 instruction	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 instruction	det
13	instruction	instruction	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 performed	obl
14	of	of	ADP	_	16 oracle	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 oracle	det
16	oracle	oracle	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 instruction	nmod
17	at	at	ADP	_	18 Athens	case
18	Athens	Athens	PROPN	Number=Sing	16 oracle	nmod
19	?	?	PUNCT	_	4 outcome	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	other	roles by
1	is a	past	the outcome	of the sacrifice	tree rules
2	perform	participle	the sacrifice not said here	by Macaria; upon the instruction of the oracle at Athens	vn performance-26.7 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	instruct		the oracle at Athens		nom instruction «communication 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

She offered her life voluntarily at the altar, after which the Athenians won the battle and the oracle's demand was fully satisfied

The tree, 23 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 offered	nsubj
2	offered	offer	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	4 life	nmod:poss
4	life	life	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 offered	obj
5	voluntarily	voluntarily	ADV	_	2 offered	advmod
6	at	at	ADP	_	8 altar	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 altar	det
8	altar	altar	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 offered	obl
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 won	punct
10	after	after	ADP	_	11 which	case
11	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	14 won	obl
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 Athenians	det
13	Athenians	Athenian	PROPN	Number=Plur	14 won	nsubj
14	won	win	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 offered	parataxis
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 battle	det
16	battle	battle	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 won	obj
17	and	and	CCONJ	_	24 satisfied	cc
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 oracle	det
19	oracle	oracle	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 demand	nmod:poss
20	's	's	PART	_	19 oracle	case
21	demand	demand	NOUN	Number=Sing	24 satisfied	nsubj
22	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	24 satisfied	cop
23	fully	fully	ADV	_	24 satisfied	advmod
24	satisfied	satisfied	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 offered	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	offer	past	She	her life	the altar	voluntarily property	vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent life=Theme
2	win	past	the Athenians	the battle			vn succeed-74-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent battle=Eventuality
3	is	past	the oracle's demand			fully, satisfied property	tree rules
4	demand		the oracle				nom demand «communication transitive»: poss=agent

Option 2

She willingly gave herself to death on the altar, which secured victory for the Athenians over the Argives and their allies at Marathon

The tree, 23 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 gave	nsubj
2	willingly	willingly	ADV	_	3 gave	advmod
3	gave	give	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	herself	herself	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs Reflex=Yes	3 gave	iobj
5	to	to	ADP	_	6 death	case
6	death	death	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 gave	obl
7	on	on	ADP	_	9 altar	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 altar	det
9	altar	altar	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 gave	obl
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	12 secured	punct
11	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	12 secured	nsubj
12	secured	secure	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 gave	conj
13	victory	victory	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 secured	obj
14	for	for	ADP	_	16 Athenians	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 Athenians	det
16	Athenians	Athenian	PROPN	Number=Plur	12 secured	obl
17	over	over	ADP	_	19 Argives	case
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 Argives	det
19	Argives	argive	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 secured	obl
20	and	and	CCONJ	_	22 allies	cc
21	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	22 allies	nmod:poss
22	allies	ally	NOUN	Number=Plur	19 Argives	conj
23	at	at	ADP	_	24 Marathon	case
24	Marathon	Marathon	PROPN	Number=Sing	12 secured	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	give	past	She		herself = she	the altar		to death; willingly property	vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient PP.asset»: agent=Agent herself=Theme to death=Recipient on altar=Asset
2	secure	past		victory		the Argives and Argives's allies		for the Athenians; at Marathon	vn ensure-99 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Precondition victory=Theme for athenian=Beneficiary

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice

She offered herself up, and the Athenians were victorious in the war

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 offered	nsubj
2	offered	offer	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	herself	herself	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs Reflex=Yes	2 offered	obj
4	up	up	ADP	_	2 offered	compound:prt
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 victorious	punct
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 victorious	cc
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 Athenians	det
8	Athenians	Athenian	PROPN	Number=Plur	10 victorious	nsubj
9	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	10 victorious	cop
10	victorious	victorious	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 offered	parataxis
11	in	in	ADP	_	13 war	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 war	det
13	war	war	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 victorious	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	offer up	past	She	herself = she					vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent herself=Theme
2	is	past	the Athenians			the war		victorious property	tree rules

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

She voluntarily devoted herself to death, thereby securing victory for the Athenians

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 devoted	nsubj
2	voluntarily	voluntarily	ADV	_	3 devoted	advmod
3	devoted	devote	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	herself	herself	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs Reflex=Yes	3 devoted	obj
5	to	to	ADP	_	6 death	case
6	death	death	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 devoted	obl
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 securing	punct
8	thereby	thereby	ADV	_	9 securing	advmod
9	securing	secure	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	3 devoted	advcl
10	victory	victory	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 securing	obj
11	for	for	ADP	_	13 Athenians	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 Athenians	det
13	Athenians	Athenian	PROPN	Number=Plur	9 securing	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	devote	past	She	herself = she				to death goal; voluntarily property	vn dedicate-79 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent herself=Theme to death=Goal
2	secure	gerund	She not said here	victory				for the Athenians; thereby property	vn ensure-99 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Precondition victory=Theme for athenian=Beneficiary

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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