Exam question 3 · Uncle Remus, The Tar-Baby, part 2: Brer Rabbit rides Brer…
Which assertion concerning Brer Fox's conduct after the girls rebuked him is consistent with the text?
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: assertion, girls, Brer · What happens: concern, rebuke, be, conduct · To what, where: conduct, Brer
This is exam question 3 of lesson 570 «Uncle Remus, The Tar-Baby, part 2: Brer Rabbit rides Brer Fox to Miss Meadows's and hitches him to the rack» 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 | Which | which | DET | PronType=Int | 2 assertion | det |
| 2 | assertion | assertion | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 consistent | nsubj |
| 3 | concerning | concern | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 2 assertion | acl |
| 4 | Brer | Brer | PROPN | Number=Sing | 7 conduct | nmod:poss |
| 5 | Fox | Fox | PROPN | Number=Sing | 4 Brer | flat |
| 6 | 's | 's | PART | _ | 4 Brer | case |
| 7 | conduct | conduct | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 concerning | obj |
| 8 | after | after | SCONJ | _ | 11 rebuked | mark |
| 9 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 10 girls | det |
| 10 | girls | girl | NOUN | Number=Plur | 11 rebuked | nsubj |
| 11 | rebuked | rebuke | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 7 conduct | acl:relcl |
| 12 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 11 rebuked | obj |
| 13 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 14 consistent | cop |
| 14 | consistent | consistent | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 15 | with | with | ADP | _ | 17 text | case |
| 16 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 17 text | det |
| 17 | text | text | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 consistent | obl |
| 18 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 14 consistent | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | concern | gerund | which assertion not said here | Brer's conduct | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus conduct=Experiencer | ||||
| 2 | rebuke | past | the girls | Brer | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | ||||
| 3 | is | present | which assertion | with the text; consistent property | tree rules | ||||
| 4 | conduct | Brer | nom conduct «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
He resolved, after the girls scolded him in front of all the guests, to humble Brer Rabbit completely
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 | 2 resolved | nsubj |
| 2 | resolved | resolve | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 7 scolded | punct |
| 4 | after | after | SCONJ | _ | 7 scolded | mark |
| 5 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 6 girls | det |
| 6 | girls | girl | NOUN | Number=Plur | 7 scolded | nsubj |
| 7 | scolded | scold | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 2 resolved | conj |
| 8 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 7 scolded | obj |
| 9 | in | in | ADP | _ | 10 front | case |
| 10 | front | front | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 scolded | obl |
| 11 | of | of | ADP | _ | 14 guests | case |
| 12 | all | all | DET | PronType=Tot | 14 guests | det:predet |
| 13 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 14 guests | det |
| 14 | guests | guest | NOUN | Number=Plur | 10 front | nmod |
| 15 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 17 humble | punct |
| 16 | to | to | PART | _ | 17 humble | mark |
| 17 | humble | humble | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 2 resolved | conj |
| 18 | Brer | Brer | PROPN | Number=Sing | 19 Rabbit | compound |
| 19 | Rabbit | Rabbit | PROPN | Number=Sing | 17 humble | obj |
| 20 | completely | completely | ADV | _ | 17 humble | advmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | resolve | past | He | tree rules | |||||
| 2 | scold | past | the girls | him = he | front of all guests | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | |||
| 3 | humble | to-infinitive | He not said here | Brer Rabbit | completely property | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus rabbit=Experiencer |
Option 2 · ✓ the right answer
He resolved to humble Brer Rabbit in their presence
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 | 2 resolved | nsubj |
| 2 | resolved | resolve | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | to | to | PART | _ | 4 humble | mark |
| 4 | humble | humble | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 2 resolved | xcomp |
| 5 | Brer | Brer | PROPN | Number=Sing | 4 humble | obj |
| 6 | Rabbit | Rabbit | PROPN | Number=Sing | 5 Brer | flat |
| 7 | in | in | ADP | _ | 9 presence | case |
| 8 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 9 presence | nmod:poss |
| 9 | presence | presence | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 humble | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | resolve | past | He | tree rules | |||||
| 2 | humble | to-infinitive | He not said here | Brer | their presence | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus brer=Experiencer |
Option 3
He vowed to humble Brer Rabbit in front of the girls and make him chew up his words
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 | 2 vowed | nsubj |
| 2 | vowed | vow | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | to | to | PART | _ | 4 humble | mark |
| 4 | humble | humble | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 2 vowed | xcomp |
| 5 | Brer | Brer | PROPN | Number=Sing | 6 Rabbit | compound |
| 6 | Rabbit | rabbit | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 humble | obj |
| 7 | in | in | ADP | _ | 8 front | case |
| 8 | front | front | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 humble | obl |
| 9 | of | of | ADP | _ | 11 girls | case |
| 10 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 11 girls | det |
| 11 | girls | girl | NOUN | Number=Plur | 8 front | nmod |
| 12 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 13 make | cc |
| 13 | make | make | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 4 humble | conj |
| 14 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 13 make | obj |
| 15 | chew | chew | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 13 make | xcomp |
| 16 | up | up | ADP | _ | 15 chew | compound:prt |
| 17 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 18 words | nmod:poss |
| 18 | words | word | NOUN | Number=Plur | 15 chew | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | vow | past | He | tree rules | |||||
| 2 | humble not said to happen | to-infinitive | He not said here | Brer Rabbit | front of the girls | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus rabbit=Experiencer | |||
| 3 | make | infinitive | He not said here | Rabbit | tree rules | ||||
| 4 | chew up | infinitive | Rabbit not said here | Rabbit's words | vn chew-39.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Patient | ||||
| 5 | word | Rabbit | nom word «communication transitive»: poss=agent |
Option 4
He decided to rush home and never return again
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 | 2 decided | nsubj |
| 2 | decided | decide | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | to | to | PART | _ | 4 rush | mark |
| 4 | rush | rush | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 2 decided | xcomp |
| 5 | home | home | ADV | _ | 4 rush | advmod |
| 6 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 8 return | cc |
| 7 | never | never | ADV | PronType=Neg | 8 return | advmod |
| 8 | return | return | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 4 rush | conj |
| 9 | again | again | ADV | _ | 8 return | advmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | decide | past | He | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V what S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 2 | rush not said to happen | to-infinitive | He not said here | home property | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 3 | not return | infinitive | He not said here | again | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=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.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/570-pg2306-part6/e3/