Exam question 2 · The Wind in the Willows, chapter X, part 1: The Further Ad…

It is given that the barge-woman declined Toad's offer to steer. Ascertain the reason she advanced.

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 1 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: barge woman, Toad, you, woman · What happens: give, decline, steer, offer, ascertain, advance · To what, where: It, offer, reason

This is exam question 2 of lesson 61 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter X, part 1: The Further Adventures of Toad (free, the canal and the barge-woman's washing)» 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

Sentence 1: It is given that the barge-woman declined Toad's offer to steer.

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	3 given	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 given	aux:pass
3	given	give	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	that	that	SCONJ	_	9 declined	mark
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 woman	det
6	barge	barge	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 woman	compound
7	-	-	PUNCT	_	6 barge	punct
8	woman	woman	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 declined	nsubj
9	declined	decline	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 given	advcl
10	Toad	Toad	PROPN	Number=Sing	12 offer	nmod:poss
11	's	's	PART	_	10 Toad	case
12	offer	offer	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 declined	obj
13	to	to	PART	_	14 steer	mark
14	steer	steer	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	9 declined	advcl
15	.	.	PUNCT	_	3 given	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	give	present · passive		It	vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	decline	past	the barge woman	Toad's offer	vn reject-77.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent offer=Theme
3	steer	to-infinitive	the barge woman not said here		vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
4	offer		Toad		nom offer «communication 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.

Sentence 2: Ascertain the reason she advanced.

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	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	5 advanced	nsubj
5	advanced	advance	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 reason	acl:relcl
6	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the reason					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic
2	advance	past	woman	the reason not said here					vn caused_calibratable_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Causer reason=Patient

The options

Option 1 · ✓ the right answer

That steering a barge requires practice

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	That	that	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	2 steering	nsubj
2	steering	steer	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	5 requires	csubj
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 barge	det
4	barge	barge	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 steering	obj
5	requires	require	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
6	practice	practice	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 requires	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	steer	gerund	That	a barge					vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent barge=Theme
2	require	present	steering	practice					vn require-103-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme practice=Precondition

Option 2

Because she did not trust a stranger with her husband's valuable boat and cargo at all

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Because	because	SCONJ	_	5 trust	mark
2	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	5 trust	nsubj
3	did	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 trust	aux
4	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	5 trust	advmod
5	trust	trust	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 stranger	det
7	stranger	stranger	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 trust	obj
8	with	with	ADP	_	13 boat	case
9	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	10 husband	nmod:poss
10	husband	husband	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 boat	nmod:poss
11	's	's	PART	_	10 husband	case
12	valuable	valuable	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 boat	amod
13	boat	boat	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 trust	obl
14	and	and	CCONJ	_	15 cargo	cc
15	cargo	cargo	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 boat	conj
16	at	at	ADP	_	17 all	case
17	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	5 trust	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	not trust	past · do-support	she	a stranger		all		with her husband's valuable boat and cargo	vn fulfilling-13.4.1 «NP V NP-Fulfilling PP.theme»: agent=Agent stranger=Recipient with boat=Theme

Option 3

Because a gentleman like Toad would certainly damage the boat and the rope, and cost her

The tree, 16 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Because	because	SCONJ	_	8 damage	mark
2	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 gentleman	det
3	gentleman	gentleman	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 damage	nsubj
4	like	like	ADP	_	5 Toad	case
5	Toad	Toad	PROPN	Number=Sing	3 gentleman	nmod
6	would	would	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	8 damage	aux
7	certainly	certainly	ADV	_	8 damage	advmod
8	damage	damage	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	16 cost	advcl
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 boat	det
10	boat	boat	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 damage	obj
11	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 rope	cc
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 rope	det
13	rope	rope	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 boat	conj
14	,	,	PUNCT	_	16 cost	punct
15	and	and	CCONJ	_	16 cost	cc
16	cost	cost	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
17	her	she	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	16 cost	iobj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	damage	would	a gentleman like Toad	the boat and the rope				certainly property	vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent boat=Patient
2	cost	imperative	you not said here		Toad				vn cost-54.2 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme she=Value

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice

Because he is a stranger to the canal

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Because	because	SCONJ	_	5 stranger	mark
2	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	5 stranger	nsubj
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 stranger	cop
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 stranger	det
5	stranger	stranger	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	to	to	ADP	_	8 canal	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 canal	det
8	canal	canal	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 stranger	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	he	a stranger				to the canal	tree rules

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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