Exam question 4 · The Wind in the Willows, chapter XI, part 5: «Like Summer…

Which of the following statements is consistent with the established facts concerning the Mole's observation of the sentries from behind the hedge?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: established facts, Mole · What happens: follow, be, establish, concern, observe · To what, where: observation, sentries

This is exam question 4 of lesson 69 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter XI, part 5: «Like Summer Tempests Came His Tears» (Mole the washerwoman and the badgers that never were)» 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	PRON	PronType=Rel	7 consistent	nsubj
2	of	of	ADP	_	5 statements	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 statements	det
4	following	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 statements	amod
5	statements	statement	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 consistent	obl
6	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 consistent	cop
7	consistent	consistent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
8	with	with	ADP	_	11 facts	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 facts	det
10	established	establish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	11 facts	amod
11	facts	fact	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 consistent	obl
12	concerning	concern	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	11 facts	acl
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 Mole	det
14	Mole	mole	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 observation	nmod:poss
15	's	's	PART	_	14 Mole	case
16	observation	observation	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 concerning	obj
17	of	of	ADP	_	19 sentries	case
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 sentries	det
19	sentries	sentry	NOUN	Number=Plur	16 observation	nmod
20	from	from	ADP	_	23 hedge	case
21	behind	behind	ADP	_	23 hedge	case
22	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	23 hedge	det
23	hedge	hedge	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 sentries	nmod
24	?	?	PUNCT	_	7 consistent	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	is	present			of the following statements; with the established facts; consistent property	tree rules
3	establish	participle				vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot
4	concern	gerund	the established facts not said here	the Mole's observation of the sentries from the hedge		vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus observation=Experiencer
5	observe		the Mole	the sentries from the hedge		nom observation «act transitive»: poss=agent 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 · ← Mova's choice

They were asleep

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 asleep	nsubj
2	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 asleep	cop
3	asleep	asleep	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	past	They					asleep property	tree rules

Option 2

They were singing

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 singing	nsubj
2	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 singing	aux
3	singing	sing	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	sing speech: express	past · progressive	They						vn sound_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 3

They were standing very still

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 standing	nsubj
2	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 standing	aux
3	standing	stand	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
4	very	very	ADV	_	5 still	advmod
5	still	still	ADV	_	3 standing	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	stand	past · progressive	They				still		vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

They were in great confusion

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	5 confusion	nsubj
2	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 confusion	cop
3	in	in	ADP	_	5 confusion	case
4	great	great	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 confusion	amod
5	confusion	confusion	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	past	They			great confusion			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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