Exam question 3 · Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 1:…

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the Stranger-man's comprehension of the picture?

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: Stranger man · What happens: follow, characteris, comprehend · To what, where: comprehension, picture

This is exam question 3 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	Which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 characterises	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	8 characterises	obl
6	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	7 accurately	advmod
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	_	8 characterises	advmod
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 man	det
10	Stranger	stranger	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 man	compound
11	-	-	PUNCT	_	10 Stranger	punct
12	man	man	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 comprehension	nmod:poss
13	's	's	PART	_	12 man	case
14	comprehension	comprehension	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
15	of	of	ADP	_	17 picture	case
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 picture	det
17	picture	picture	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 comprehension	nmod
18	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the Stranger man's comprehension of the picture	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	comprehend		the Stranger man	the picture		nom comprehension «cognition 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

He guessed the Chief wanted a new spear

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	2 guessed	nsubj
2	guessed	guess	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 Chief	det
4	Chief	Chief	PROPN	Number=Sing	5 wanted	nsubj
5	wanted	want	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 guessed	ccomp
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 spear	det
7	new	new	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 spear	amod
8	spear	spear	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 wanted	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	guess	past	He						vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
2	want	past	the Chief	a new spear					vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot spear=Theme

Option 2

He supposed the Chief to be beset by enemies, so he ran off to find weapons and a shield for his new friend

The tree, 23 words

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	2 supposed	nsubj
2	supposed	suppose	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 Chief	det
4	Chief	Chief	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 supposed	obj
5	to	to	PART	_	7 beset	mark
6	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	7 beset	aux:pass
7	beset	beset	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 supposed	xcomp
8	by	by	ADP	_	9 enemies	case
9	enemies	enemy	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 beset	obl:agent
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 ran	punct
11	so	so	ADV	_	13 ran	advmod
12	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	13 ran	nsubj
13	ran	run	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 supposed	conj
14	off	off	ADP	_	13 ran	compound:prt
15	to	to	PART	_	16 find	mark
16	find	find	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	13 ran	advcl
17	weapons	weapon	NOUN	Number=Plur	16 find	obj
18	and	and	CCONJ	_	20 shield	cc
19	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	20 shield	det
20	shield	shield	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 supposed	conj
21	for	for	ADP	_	24 friend	case
22	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	24 friend	nmod:poss
23	new	new	ADJ	Degree=Pos	24 friend	amod
24	friend	friend	NOUN	Number=Sing	20 shield	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	suppose	past	He	the Chief	vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent chief=Attribute clause=Theme
2	beset	to-infinitive · passive	enemies		tree rules
3	run off	past	he		vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
4	find	to-infinitive	he not said here	weapons	vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent weapon=Topic

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

He supposed the Chief to be beset by enemies and in need of his tribe

The tree, 15 words

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	2 supposed	nsubj
2	supposed	suppose	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 Chief	det
4	Chief	Chief	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 supposed	obj
5	to	to	PART	_	7 beset	mark
6	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	7 beset	aux:pass
7	beset	beset	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 supposed	xcomp
8	by	by	ADP	_	9 enemies	case
9	enemies	enemy	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 beset	obl
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	12 need	cc
11	in	in	ADP	_	12 need	case
12	need	need	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 enemies	conj
13	of	of	ADP	_	15 tribe	case
14	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	15 tribe	nmod:poss
15	tribe	tribe	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 need	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	suppose	past	He	the Chief	vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent chief=Attribute clause=Theme
2	beset	to-infinitive · passive	enemies and need of his tribe		tree rules
3	need			his tribe	nom need «state transitive»: of=patient

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice

He thought the Chief was hungry for fish

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	2 thought	nsubj
2	thought	think	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 Chief	det
4	Chief	Chief	PROPN	Number=Sing	6 hungry	nsubj
5	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 hungry	cop
6	hungry	hungry	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 thought	ccomp
7	for	for	ADP	_	8 fish	case
8	fish	fish	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 hungry	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	think speech: other	past	He						vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	is	past	the Chief					for fish; hungry property	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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/84-justso-first-letter-1-a-broken-spear/e3/