Exam question 3 · The Wind in the Willows, chapter IX, part 1: Wayfarers All…

Ascertain the reason furnished by the field-mice for their early removal.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, mice · What happens: ascertain, furnish, remove · To what, where: reason

This is exam question 3 of lesson 56 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter IX, part 1: Wayfarers All (change in the air)» 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 reason	det
3	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
4	furnished	furnish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 reason	acl
5	by	by	ADP	_	9 mice	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 mice	det
7	field	field	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 mice	compound
8	-	-	PUNCT	_	7 field	punct
9	mice	mouse	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 furnished	obl
10	for	for	ADP	_	13 removal	case
11	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	13 removal	nmod:poss
12	early	early	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 removal	amod
13	removal	removal	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 furnished	obl
14	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the reason		vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic
2	furnish	participle		the reason not said here	by the field mice; for mice's early removal	vn fulfilling-13.4.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent for removal=Recipient
3	remove		mice = mouse			nom removal «act 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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

The impending arrival of the harvesting machines and the scarcity of desirable flats

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 arrival	det
2	impending	impend	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	3 arrival	amod
3	arrival	arrival	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	7 machines	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 machines	det
6	harvesting	harvesting	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 machines	compound
7	machines	machine	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 arrival	nmod
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 scarcity	cc
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 scarcity	det
10	scarcity	scarcity	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 machines	conj
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 flats	case
12	desirable	desirable	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 flats	amod
13	flats	flat	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 scarcity	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	impend	gerund							tree rules
2	arrive		the harvesting machines and the scarcity of desirable flats						nom arrival «act intransitive»: of=agent

Option 2

The approach of the Rat and the need to avoid his picnic plans

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 approach	det
2	approach	approach	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 Rat	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 Rat	det
5	Rat	Rat	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 approach	nmod
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	8 need	cc
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 need	det
8	need	need	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 approach	conj
9	to	to	PART	_	10 avoid	mark
10	avoid	avoid	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	8 need	acl
11	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	13 plans	nmod:poss
12	picnic	picnic	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 plans	compound
13	plans	plan	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 avoid	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	avoid	to-infinitive		his picnic plans	vn avoid-52 «NP V NP.location»: agent=Agent plan=Location
2	approach		the Rat		nom approach «act intransitive»: of=agent
3	plan		his = he		nom plan «cognition transitive»: poss=agent

Option 3

The machines are coming

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 machines	det
2	machines	machine	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 coming	nsubj
3	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 coming	aux
4	coming	come	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	come	present · progressive	the machines						vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 4

Winter is coming and the wheat will be gone

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Winter	Winter	PROPN	Number=Sing	3 coming	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 coming	aux
3	coming	come	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
4	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 gone	cc
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 wheat	det
6	wheat	wheat	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 gone	nsubj
7	will	will	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	9 gone	aux
8	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	9 gone	aux:pass
9	gone	go	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 coming	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	come	present · progressive	Winter						vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	go	future · passive		the wheat					vn meander-47.7 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme

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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