Exam question 4 · Uncle Remus, The Sad Fate of Mr. Fox: Brer Rabbit tricks B…

What is the significance of the grindstone episode in relation to the preceding events of the tale?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · What happens: be, precede · To what, where: significance

This is exam question 4 of lesson 588 «Uncle Remus, The Sad Fate of Mr. Fox: Brer Rabbit tricks Brer Fox to his death and escapes Miss Fox» 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 significance	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 significance	cop
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 significance	det
4	significance	significance	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	of	of	ADP	_	8 episode	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 episode	det
7	grindstone	grindstone	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 episode	compound
8	episode	episode	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 significance	nmod
9	in	in	ADP	_	10 relation	case
10	relation	relation	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 episode	nmod
11	to	to	ADP	_	14 events	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 events	det
13	preceding	precede	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	14 events	amod
14	events	event	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 relation	nmod
15	of	of	ADP	_	17 tale	case
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 tale	det
17	tale	tale	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 events	nmod
18	?	?	PUNCT	_	4 significance	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present		the significance				of the grindstone episode in relation to the preceding events of the tale	tree rules
2	precede	gerund							vn contiguous_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme

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

It enables Brer Rabbit to escape a second time through another deception, which mirrors the earlier trick with the fire, the cow, and the maul

The tree, 25 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 enables	nsubj
2	enables	enable	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	Brer	Brer	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 enables	obj
4	Rabbit	Rabbit	PROPN	Number=Sing	3 Brer	flat
5	to	to	PART	_	6 escape	mark
6	escape	escape	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 enables	xcomp
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 time	det
8	second	second	ADJ	Degree=Pos NumForm=Word NumType=Ord	9 time	amod
9	time	time	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 escape	obj
10	through	through	ADP	_	12 deception	case
11	another	another	DET	PronType=Ind	12 deception	det
12	deception	deception	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 escape	obl
13	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 mirrors	punct
14	which	which	DET	PronType=Int	15 mirrors	det
15	mirrors	mirror	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 deception	conj
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 trick	det
17	earlier	early	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	18 trick	amod
18	trick	trick	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 mirrors	appos
19	with	with	ADP	_	21 fire	case
20	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	21 fire	det
21	fire	fire	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 trick	nmod
22	,	,	PUNCT	_	24 cow	punct
23	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	24 cow	det
24	cow	cow	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 trick	conj
25	,	,	PUNCT	_	28 maul	punct
26	and	and	CCONJ	_	28 maul	cc
27	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	28 maul	det
28	maul	maul	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 enables	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	enable	present	It	Brer				the maul obl	tree rules
2	escape	to-infinitive	Brer not said here			another deception and which mirrors	time		vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme through deception=Initial_Location

Option 2

It shows Brer Rabbit tricking Miss Fox again so he can flee the house safely

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 shows	nsubj
2	shows	show	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	Brer	Brer	PROPN	Number=Sing	4 Rabbit	compound
4	Rabbit	Rabbit	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 shows	obj
5	tricking	trick	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	2 shows	xcomp
6	Miss	Miss	PROPN	Number=Sing	7 Fox	compound
7	Fox	fox	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 tricking	obj
8	again	again	ADV	_	5 tricking	advmod
9	so	so	SCONJ	_	12 flee	mark
10	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	12 flee	nsubj
11	can	can	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	12 flee	aux
12	flee	flee	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	5 tricking	advcl
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 house	det
14	house	house	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 flee	obj
15	safely	safely	ADV	_	12 flee	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	when	other	roles by
1	show	present	It	Brer Rabbit			vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Agent rabbit=Recipient clause=Topic
2	trick	gerund		Miss Fox	again		vn trick-59.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fox=Patient
3	flee	can	Fox	the house		safely property	vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme house=Initial_Location

Option 3

It explains how the dogs were called off by Rabbit's second lie

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 explains	nsubj
2	explains	explain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	how	how	ADV	PronType=Int	7 called	advmod
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 dogs	det
5	dogs	dog	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 called	nsubj:pass
6	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	7 called	aux:pass
7	called	call	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 explains	ccomp
8	off	off	ADP	_	7 called	compound:prt
9	by	by	ADP	_	13 lie	case
10	Rabbit	Rabbit	PROPN	Number=Sing	13 lie	nmod:poss
11	's	's	PART	_	10 Rabbit	case
12	second	second	ADJ	Degree=Pos NumForm=Word NumType=Ord	13 lie	amod
13	lie	lie	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 called	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	explain speech: assert	present	It		vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
2	call off speech: assert	past · passive	Rabbit's second lie	the dogs	vn initiate_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent subject=Recipient
3	lie		Rabbit		nom lie «communication intransitive»: poss=agent

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

It enables Brer Rabbit to escape a second time, through another deception

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 enables	nsubj
2	enables	enable	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	Brer	Brer	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 enables	obj
4	Rabbit	Rabbit	PROPN	Number=Sing	3 Brer	flat
5	to	to	PART	_	6 escape	mark
6	escape	escape	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 enables	xcomp
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 time	det
8	second	second	ADJ	Degree=Pos NumForm=Word NumType=Ord	9 time	amod
9	time	time	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 escape	obj
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 deception	punct
11	through	through	ADP	_	13 deception	case
12	another	another	DET	PronType=Ind	13 deception	det
13	deception	deception	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 escape	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	enable	present	It	Brer					tree rules
2	escape	to-infinitive	Brer not said here			another deception	time		vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme through deception=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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