Exam question 4 · Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 2:…

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the limitation of picture-writing demonstrated in this part?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris, demonstrate, limit · To what, where: limitation, picture writing, part

This is exam question 4 of lesson 85 «Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 2: the picture goes wrong and the whole Tribe comes» 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	10 limitation	det
10	limitation	limitation	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	14 writing	case
12	picture	picture	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 writing	compound
13	-	-	PUNCT	_	12 picture	punct
14	writing	writing	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 limitation	nmod
15	demonstrated	demonstrate	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	14 writing	acl
16	in	in	ADP	_	18 part	case
17	this	this	DET	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	18 part	det
18	part	part	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 demonstrated	obl
19	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present	the limitation of picture writing		of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	demonstrate	participle	picture writing not said here	this part		vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
4	limit		picture writing			nom limitation «cognition 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 · ← Mova's choice

Pictures are always clear

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Pictures	picture	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 clear	nsubj
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 clear	cop
3	always	always	ADV	PronType=Tot	4 clear	advmod
4	clear	clear	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	present	Pictures					always, clear property	tree rules

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

A picture does not fix its meaning in words, and may be misunderstood

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 picture	det
2	picture	picture	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 fix	nsubj
3	does	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 fix	aux
4	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	5 fix	advmod
5	fix	fix	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
6	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	7 meaning	nmod:poss
7	meaning	meaning	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 fix	obj
8	in	in	ADP	_	9 words	case
9	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 fix	obl
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 misunderstood	punct
11	and	and	CCONJ	_	14 misunderstood	cc
12	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	14 misunderstood	aux
13	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	14 misunderstood	aux:pass
14	misunderstood	misunderstand	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 fix	advcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	not fix	present · do-support	a picture	picture's meaning	words	vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent meaning=Patient
2	misunderstand	may · passive	a picture not said here			vn comprehend-87.2 «NP V how S»
3	mean		picture			nom meaning «communication transitive»: poss=agent

Option 3

Pictures always need a drum to explain their meaning to every listener

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Pictures	picture	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 need	nsubj
2	always	always	ADV	PronType=Tot	3 need	advmod
3	need	need	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 drum	det
5	drum	drum	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 need	obj
6	to	to	PART	_	7 explain	mark
7	explain	explain	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	3 need	xcomp
8	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	9 meaning	nmod:poss
9	meaning	meaning	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 explain	obj
10	to	to	ADP	_	12 listener	case
11	every	every	DET	PronType=Tot	12 listener	det
12	listener	listener	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 explain	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	other	roles by
1	need	present	Pictures	a drum		always property	tree rules
2	explain speech: assert not said to happen	to-infinitive	a drum not said here	Pictures's meaning	every listener		vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic to listener=Recipient
3	mean		Pictures = picture				nom meaning «communication transitive»: poss=agent

Option 4

Pictures can only show big things well

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Pictures	picture	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 show	nsubj
2	can	can	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	4 show	aux
3	only	only	ADV	_	4 show	advmod
4	show	show	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
5	big	big	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 things	amod
6	things	thing	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 show	obj
7	well	well	ADV	Degree=Pos	4 show	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	show	can	Pictures	big things				well property	vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent thing=Recipient

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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