Exam question 2 · Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 1:…
Ascertain the reason for which Tegumai was unable to continue fishing.
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, Tegumai · What happens: ascertain, be, continue · To what, where: reason, fishing
This is exam question 2 of lesson 84 «Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 1: a broken spear and a picture on birch-bark» 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 | 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 | for | for | ADP | _ | 5 which | case |
| 5 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 8 unable | obl |
| 6 | Tegumai | Tegumai | PROPN | Number=Sing | 8 unable | nsubj |
| 7 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 8 unable | cop |
| 8 | unable | unable | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 reason | acl |
| 9 | to | to | PART | _ | 10 continue | mark |
| 10 | continue | continue | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 8 unable | xcomp |
| 11 | fishing | fishing | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 continue | obj |
| 12 | . | . | 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 | is | past | Tegumai | for the reason; unable property | tree rules | ||||
| 3 | continue | to-infinitive | Tegumai not said here | fishing | vn sustain-55.6 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent fishing=Theme |
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
His spear had been broken when Taffy pulled it from the river bottom and the carp swam away with the bait
The tree, 21 words
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | His | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 2 spear | nmod:poss |
| 2 | spear | spear | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 broken | nsubj:pass |
| 3 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 broken | aux |
| 4 | been | be | AUX | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 5 broken | aux:pass |
| 5 | broken | break | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 6 | when | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 8 pulled | advmod |
| 7 | Taffy | Taffy | PROPN | Number=Sing | 8 pulled | nsubj |
| 8 | pulled | pull | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 broken | advcl |
| 9 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 8 pulled | obj |
| 10 | from | from | ADP | _ | 13 bottom | case |
| 11 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 13 bottom | det |
| 12 | river | river | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 bottom | compound |
| 13 | bottom | bottom | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 pulled | obl |
| 14 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 17 swam | cc |
| 15 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 16 carp | det |
| 16 | carp | carp | NOUN | Number=Sing | 17 swam | nsubj |
| 17 | swam | swim | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 broken | conj |
| 18 | away | away | ADV | _ | 17 swam | advmod |
| 19 | with | with | ADP | _ | 21 bait | case |
| 20 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 21 bait | det |
| 21 | bait | bait | NOUN | Number=Sing | 17 swam | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | break | past · perfect · passive | His spear | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient | |||||
| 2 | pull | past | Taffy | spear | the river bottom | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.initial_location»: agent=Agent it=Theme from bottom=Initial_Location | |||
| 3 | swim away | past | the carp | with the bait; away property | vn swarm-47.5.1-1 «PP.location V PP.theme»: agent=Location with bait=Theme |
Option 2
The swamp had swallowed his fishing line
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 swamp | det |
| 2 | swamp | swamp | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 swallowed | nsubj:pass |
| 3 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 swallowed | aux |
| 4 | swallowed | swallow | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 5 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 7 line | nmod:poss |
| 6 | fishing | fishing | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 line | compound |
| 7 | line | line | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 swallowed | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | swallow | past · perfect · passive | the swamp | tree rules |
Option 3
The fish had escaped from his spear
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 fish | det |
| 2 | fish | fish | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 escaped | nsubj:pass |
| 3 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 escaped | aux |
| 4 | escaped | escape | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 5 | from | from | ADP | _ | 7 spear | case |
| 6 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 7 spear | nmod:poss |
| 7 | spear | spear | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 escaped | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | escape | past · perfect · passive | the fish | fish's spear | tree rules |
Option 4 · ✓ the right answer
His spear had been broken by being jabbed upon the river bottom
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | His | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 2 spear | nmod:poss |
| 2 | spear | spear | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 broken | nsubj:pass |
| 3 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 broken | aux |
| 4 | been | be | AUX | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 5 broken | aux:pass |
| 5 | broken | break | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 6 | by | by | SCONJ | _ | 8 jabbed | mark |
| 7 | being | be | AUX | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 8 jabbed | aux:pass |
| 8 | jabbed | jab | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 5 broken | xcomp |
| 9 | upon | upon | ADP | _ | 12 bottom | case |
| 10 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 12 bottom | det |
| 11 | river | river | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 bottom | compound |
| 12 | bottom | bottom | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 jabbed | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | break | past · perfect · passive | His spear | tree rules | |||||
| 2 | jab | gerund · passive | upon the river bottom | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V PP» |
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/84-justso-first-letter-1-a-broken-spear/e2/