Exam question 2 · Andersen's Tales, The Butterfly: a butterfly cannot choose…

Under what conditions did the butterfly come to be exhibited, by the persons in the room, as a specimen in a box?

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: conditions, persons · What happens: do, come, exhibit · To what, where: butterfly

This is exam question 2 of lesson 808 «Andersen's Tales, The Butterfly: a butterfly cannot choose a wife and is pinned in a box of curiosities» 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	Under	under	ADP	_	2 what	case
2	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	4 did	obj
3	conditions	condition	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 did	nsubj
4	did	do	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 butterfly	det
6	butterfly	butterfly	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 did	obj
7	come	come	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 did	xcomp
8	to	to	PART	_	10 exhibited	mark
9	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	10 exhibited	aux:pass
10	exhibited	exhibit	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	7 come	advcl
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 persons	punct
12	by	by	ADP	_	14 persons	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 persons	det
14	persons	person	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 exhibited	obl
15	in	in	ADP	_	17 room	case
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 room	det
17	room	room	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 persons	nmod
18	,	,	PUNCT	_	21 specimen	punct
19	as	as	ADP	_	21 specimen	case
20	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	21 specimen	det
21	specimen	specimen	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 persons	conj
22	in	in	ADP	_	24 box	case
23	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	24 box	det
24	box	box	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 specimen	nmod
25	?	?	PUNCT	_	4 did	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	do	past	conditions	the butterfly	tree rules
2	come	infinitive	conditions not said here		vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
3	exhibit	to-infinitive · passive	the persons in the room and a specimen in a box		vn reflexive_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: agent=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

He was seized and put in a cage

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 seized	nsubj
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 seized	aux:pass
3	seized	seize	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	and	and	CCONJ	_	5 put	cc
5	put	put	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 seized	conj
6	in	in	ADP	_	8 cage	case
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 cage	det
8	cage	cage	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 put	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	seize	past · passive		He					vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	put	participle				a cage			vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent in cage=Destination

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

He was caught and pinned on a pin

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 caught	nsubj:pass
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 caught	aux:pass
3	caught	catch	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	and	and	CCONJ	_	5 pinned	cc
5	pinned	pin	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 caught	conj
6	on	on	ADP	_	8 pin	case
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 pin	det
8	pin	pin	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 pinned	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	catch	past · passive		He					vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	pin	participle						on a pin	vn tape-22.4 «NP V ADV-Middle PP»: agent=Patient on pin=Co-Patient

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice

He was trapped by a child in a box

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 trapped	nsubj:pass
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 trapped	aux:pass
3	trapped	trap	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	ADP	_	6 child	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 child	det
6	child	child	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 trapped	obl
7	in	in	ADP	_	9 box	case
8	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 box	det
9	box	box	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 trapped	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	trap	past · passive	a child	He		a box			vn pocket-9.10 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent subject=Theme in box=Destination

Option 4

He was caught

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 caught	nsubj:pass
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 caught	aux:pass
3	caught	catch	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	catch	past · passive		He					vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme

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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