Exam question 3 · Andersen's Tales, Rudy, part 66: an avalanche kills the un…

According to the passage, what was the precise cause of the uncle's death?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: passage, uncle · What happens: accord, be, die · To what, where: precise cause

This is exam question 3 of lesson 855 «Andersen's Tales, Rudy, part 66: an avalanche kills the uncle, and Rudy becomes the family's hunter and guide» 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	According	accord	VERB	ExtPos=ADP Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	4 passage	case
2	to	to	ADP	_	1 According	fixed
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 passage	det
4	passage	passage	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 cause	punct
6	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	10 cause	nsubj
7	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	10 cause	cop
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 cause	det
9	precise	precise	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 cause	amod
10	cause	cause	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 passage	conj
11	of	of	ADP	_	15 death	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 uncle	det
13	uncle	uncle	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 death	nmod:poss
14	's	's	PART	_	13 uncle	case
15	death	death	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 cause	nmod
16	?	?	PUNCT	_	4 passage	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	accord	gerund				vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent
2	is a	past	the passage and the precise cause	the precise cause	of the uncle's death	tree rules
3	die		the uncle			nom death «event intransitive»: poss=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

He was struck by a flying stone

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 struck	nsubj
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 struck	aux:pass
3	struck	strike	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	ADP	_	7 stone	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 stone	det
6	flying	fly	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	7 stone	amod
7	stone	stone	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 struck	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	strike	past · passive	a flying stone	He					vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent subject=Instrument
2	fly	gerund							vn spatial_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 2

His neck broke when he hit the rocky ground below

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 neck	nmod:poss
2	neck	neck	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 broke	nsubj
3	broke	break	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	when	when	ADV	PronType=Int	6 hit	advmod
5	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	6 hit	nsubj
6	hit	hit	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 broke	advcl
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 ground	det
8	rocky	rocky	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 ground	amod
9	ground	ground	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 hit	obj
10	below	below	ADV	_	6 hit	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	break	past	His neck						vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient
2	hit	past	neck	the rocky ground				below property	vn contiguous_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme ground=Co-Theme

Option 3

His chest was crushed by the full weight of the avalanche debris

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 chest	nmod:poss
2	chest	chest	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 crushed	nsubj:pass
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 crushed	aux:pass
4	crushed	crush	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	by	by	ADP	_	8 weight	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 weight	det
7	full	full	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 weight	amod
8	weight	weight	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 crushed	obl
9	of	of	ADP	_	12 debris	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 debris	det
11	avalanche	avalanche	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 debris	compound
12	debris	debris	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 weight	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	crush	past · passive	the full weight of the avalanche debris	His chest					vn carve-21.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

His skull was fractured by the falling branches of the overthrown trees

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 skull	nmod:poss
2	skull	skull	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 fractured	nsubj:pass
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 fractured	aux:pass
4	fractured	fracture	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	by	by	ADP	_	8 branches	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 branches	det
7	falling	fall	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	8 branches	amod
8	branches	branch	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 fractured	obl
9	of	of	ADP	_	12 trees	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 trees	det
11	overthrown	overthrown	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 trees	amod
12	trees	tree	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 branches	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	fracture	past · passive	the falling branches of the overthrown trees	His skull					vn break-45.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient
2	fall	gerund							vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=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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