Exam question 4 · Household Tales, The Frog King, part 11: the wrens win the…

Explain why the young willow-wrens declined to partake of nourishment after the battle had been fought.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, young willow wrens · What happens: explain, decline, not partake, fight · To what, where: battle

This is exam question 4 of lesson 735 «Household Tales, The Frog King, part 11: the wrens win their war, and a frog bargains with a princess» 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	Explain	explain	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	why	why	ADV	PronType=Int	8 declined	advmod
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 wrens	det
4	young	young	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 wrens	amod
5	willow	willow	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 wrens	compound
6	-	-	PUNCT	_	5 willow	punct
7	wrens	wren	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 declined	nsubj
8	declined	decline	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	1 Explain	advcl
9	to	to	PART	_	10 partake	mark
10	partake	partake	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	8 declined	xcomp
11	of	of	ADP	_	12 nourishment	case
12	nourishment	nourishment	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 partake	obl
13	after	after	SCONJ	_	18 fought	mark
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 battle	det
15	battle	battle	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 fought	nsubj:pass
16	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	18 fought	aux
17	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	18 fought	aux:pass
18	fought	fight	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	10 partake	advcl
19	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Explain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	explain speech: assert	imperative	you not said here			vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	decline	past	the young willow wrens			vn reject-77.2 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
3	not partake	to-infinitive	the young willow wrens not said here		of nourishment	tree rules
4	fight	past · perfect · passive		the battle		vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Co-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

Because the bear had insulted them and had refused to beg their pardon at all, even when asked to do so by the birds

The tree, 24 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Because	because	SCONJ	_	5 insulted	mark
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 bear	det
3	bear	bear	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 insulted	nsubj:pass
4	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 insulted	aux
5	insulted	insult	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	5 insulted	obj
7	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 refused	cc
8	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	9 refused	aux
9	refused	refuse	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	5 insulted	conj
10	to	to	PART	_	11 beg	mark
11	beg	beg	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	9 refused	xcomp
12	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	13 pardon	nmod:poss
13	pardon	pardon	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 beg	obj
14	at	at	ADP	_	15 all	case
15	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	11 beg	obl
16	,	,	PUNCT	_	19 asked	punct
17	even	even	ADV	_	19 asked	advmod
18	when	when	ADV	PronType=Int	19 asked	advmod
19	asked	ask	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 insulted	conj
20	to	to	PART	_	21 do	mark
21	do	do	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	19 asked	xcomp
22	so	so	ADV	_	21 do	advmod
23	by	by	ADP	_	25 birds	case
24	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	25 birds	det
25	birds	bird	NOUN	Number=Plur	21 do	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	insult	past · perfect · passive		the bear			vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Experiencer they=Result
2	refuse	past · perfect					vn reject-77.2 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
3	not beg speech: request	to-infinitive		their pardon	all		vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V NP PP.Topic»: agent=Agent pardon=Recipient
4	ask speech: ask	participle					vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
5	do not said to happen	to-infinitive				by the birds	vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
6	pardon		their = they				nom pardon «act transitive»: poss=agent

Option 2

Because the bear had hurt them and had not asked forgiveness

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Because	because	SCONJ	_	5 hurt	mark
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 bear	det
3	bear	bear	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 hurt	nsubj:pass
4	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 hurt	aux
5	hurt	hurt	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	5 hurt	obj
7	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 asked	cc
8	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	10 asked	aux
9	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	10 asked	advmod
10	asked	ask	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	5 hurt	conj
11	forgiveness	forgiveness	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 hurt	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	hurt	past · perfect · passive		the bear				forgiveness obl	vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Experiencer they=Result
2	not ask speech: ask	past · perfect							vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

Because the bear had insulted them and had not begged pardon

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Because	because	SCONJ	_	5 insulted	mark
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 bear	det
3	bear	bear	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 insulted	nsubj:pass
4	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 insulted	aux
5	insulted	insult	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	5 insulted	obj
7	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 begged	cc
8	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	10 begged	aux
9	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	10 begged	advmod
10	begged	beg	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	5 insulted	conj
11	pardon	pardon	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 begged	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	insult	past · perfect · passive		the bear					vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Experiencer they=Result
2	not beg speech: request	past · perfect		pardon					vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V NP PP.Topic»: agent=Agent pardon=Recipient

Option 4

Because the bear had insulted them badly, and had never once begged their pardon or come to the nest with apologies

The tree, 21 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Because	because	SCONJ	_	5 insulted	mark
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 bear	det
3	bear	bear	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 insulted	nsubj:pass
4	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 insulted	aux
5	insulted	insult	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	5 insulted	obj
7	badly	badly	ADV	Degree=Pos	5 insulted	advmod
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 begged	punct
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 begged	cc
10	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	13 begged	aux
11	never	never	ADV	PronType=Neg	12 once	advmod
12	once	once	ADV	NumForm=Word NumType=Mult	13 begged	advmod
13	begged	beg	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 insulted	conj
14	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	15 pardon	nmod:poss
15	pardon	pardon	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 begged	obj
16	or	or	CCONJ	_	17 come	cc
17	come	come	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	13 begged	conj
18	to	to	ADP	_	20 nest	case
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 nest	det
20	nest	nest	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 come	obl
21	with	with	ADP	_	22 apologies	case
22	apologies	apology	NOUN	Number=Plur	17 come	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	insult	past · perfect · passive		the bear		badly property	vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Experiencer they=Result
2	beg speech: request	past		their pardon		once property	vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V NP PP.Topic»: agent=Agent pardon=Recipient
3	come	infinitive			the nest	with apologies	vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme to nest=Initial_Location
4	pardon		their = they				nom pardon «act transitive»: poss=agent

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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