Exam question 4 · Danish Fairy and Folk Tales, Shepherd Paul, part 51: Niels…

According to the passage, by what means did Paul descend beneath the earth in pursuit of the dwarf?

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: Paul · What happens: accord, mean, descend, pursue · To what, where: dwarf · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 4 of lesson 711 «Danish Fairy and Folk Tales, Shepherd Paul, part 51: Niels is caught and wed, then Paul gathers three strong friends and finds a dragon's captive» 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	According	accord	VERB	ExtPos=ADP Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	4 passage	case
2	to	to	ADP	_	1 According	fixed
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 passage	det
4	passage	passage	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 means	obl
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	4 passage	punct
6	by	by	SCONJ	_	8 means	mark
7	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	8 means	nsubj
8	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
9	did	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	11 descend	aux
10	Paul	Paul	PROPN	Number=Sing	11 descend	nsubj
11	descend	descend	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	8 means	ccomp
12	beneath	beneath	ADP	_	14 earth	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 earth	det
14	earth	earth	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 descend	obl
15	in	in	ADP	_	16 pursuit	case
16	pursuit	pursuit	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 earth	nmod
17	of	of	ADP	_	19 dwarf	case
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 dwarf	det
19	dwarf	dwarf	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 pursuit	nmod
20	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 means	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	accord	gerund				vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent
2	mean	present			accord the passage	vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
3	descend	past · do-support	Paul		beneath the earth in pursuit of the dwarf	vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
4	pursue			the dwarf		nom pursuit «act transitive»: 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

By sliding down a rope from the hill

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	SCONJ	_	2 sliding	mark
2	sliding	slide	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
3	down	down	ADP	_	2 sliding	compound:prt
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 rope	det
5	rope	rope	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 sliding	obj
6	from	from	ADP	_	8 hill	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 hill	det
8	hill	hill	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 sliding	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	slide down	gerund		a rope		the hill			vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent rope=Theme from hill=Trajectory

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice

By climbing into a basket and being lowered by two men on a long rope through the rocks into the hole below

The tree, 22 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	SCONJ	_	2 climbing	mark
2	climbing	climb	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	8 lowered	advcl
3	into	into	ADP	_	5 basket	case
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 basket	det
5	basket	basket	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 climbing	obl
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	2 climbing	cc
7	being	be	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	8 lowered	aux:pass
8	lowered	lower	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
9	by	by	ADP	_	11 men	case
10	two	two	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	11 men	nummod
11	men	man	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 lowered	obl
12	on	on	ADP	_	15 rope	case
13	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	15 rope	det
14	long	long	ADJ	Degree=Pos	15 rope	amod
15	rope	rope	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 lowered	obl
16	through	through	ADP	_	18 rocks	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 rocks	det
18	rocks	rock	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 lowered	obl
19	into	into	ADP	_	21 hole	case
20	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	21 hole	det
21	hole	hole	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 lowered	obl
22	below	below	ADV	_	21 hole	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	climb	gerund	two men not said here			a basket			vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme into basket=Destination
2	lower	gerund · passive	two men			a long rope		through the rocks; into the hole	vn put_direction-9.4 «NP V NP PP.initial_location PP.destination»: agent=Agent on rope=Destination through rock=Initial_Location

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

By stepping into a basket lowered on a cord

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	SCONJ	_	2 stepping	mark
2	stepping	step	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
3	into	into	ADP	_	5 basket	case
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 basket	det
5	basket	basket	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 stepping	obl
6	lowered	lower	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 basket	acl
7	on	on	ADP	_	9 cord	case
8	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 cord	det
9	cord	cord	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 lowered	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	step	gerund				a basket			vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme into basket=Destination
2	lower	participle		a basket not said here		a cord			vn put_direction-9.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent on cord=Destination

Option 4

By stepping into a basket that was lowered on a long cord by the men above, then sinking slowly into the dark hole

The tree, 23 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	SCONJ	_	2 stepping	mark
2	stepping	step	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
3	into	into	ADP	_	5 basket	case
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 basket	det
5	basket	basket	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 stepping	obl
6	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 lowered	nsubj:pass
7	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	8 lowered	aux:pass
8	lowered	lower	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 basket	acl:relcl
9	on	on	ADP	_	12 cord	case
10	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 cord	det
11	long	long	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 cord	amod
12	cord	cord	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 lowered	obl
13	by	by	ADP	_	15 men	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 men	det
15	men	man	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 lowered	obl
16	above	above	ADV	_	8 lowered	advmod
17	,	,	PUNCT	_	19 sinking	punct
18	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	19 sinking	advmod
19	sinking	sink	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 stepping	conj
20	slowly	slowly	ADV	_	19 sinking	advmod
21	into	into	ADP	_	24 hole	case
22	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	24 hole	det
23	dark	dark	ADJ	Degree=Pos	24 hole	amod
24	hole	hole	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 sinking	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	step	gerund			a basket			vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme into basket=Destination
2	lower	past · passive	the men	a basket	a long cord		above property	vn put_direction-9.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent subject=Theme on cord=Destination
3	sink	gerund			the dark hole	then	slowly property	vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient

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/711-pg2435-part51/e4/