Exam question 1 · Andersen's Fairy Tales, Little Claus and Big Claus, part 8…

Which action of Great Claus is described as the first attempt to deceive the townspeople by selling skins for a bushel of money?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: Great Claus · What happens: describe, deceive, sell, act · To what, where: action, townspeople, skins

This is exam question 1 of lesson 870 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, Little Claus and Big Claus, part 81: Great Claus is beaten out of town, kills his own grandmother, and nearly drowns Little Claus, who escapes with a drover's cattle» 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	DET	PronType=Int	2 action	det
2	action	action	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 described	nsubj:pass
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 Claus	case
4	Great	Great	PROPN	Number=Sing	5 Claus	flat
5	Claus	Claus	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 action	nmod
6	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 described	aux:pass
7	described	describe	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
8	as	as	ADP	_	11 attempt	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 attempt	det
10	first	first	ADJ	Degree=Pos NumForm=Word NumType=Ord	11 attempt	amod
11	attempt	attempt	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 described	obl
12	to	to	PART	_	13 deceive	mark
13	deceive	deceive	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	11 attempt	acl
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 townspeople	det
15	townspeople	townspeople	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 deceive	obj
16	by	by	SCONJ	_	17 selling	mark
17	selling	sell	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	13 deceive	advcl
18	skins	skin	NOUN	Number=Plur	17 selling	obj
19	for	for	ADP	_	21 bushel	case
20	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	21 bushel	det
21	bushel	bushel	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 selling	obl
22	of	of	ADP	_	23 money	case
23	money	money	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 bushel	nmod
24	?	?	PUNCT	_	7 described	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	describe	present · passive		which action of Great Claus	as the first attempt	vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: subject=Theme as attempt=Attribute
2	deceive	to-infinitive		the townspeople		vn trick-59.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent townspeople=Patient
3	sell	gerund		skins	for a bushel of money	vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.asset»: agent=Agent skin=Theme for bushel=Asset
4	act		Great Claus			nom action «act intransitive»: of=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 sold the skins to the shoemakers and gave them a bushel of silver.

The tree, 14 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 sold	nsubj
2	sold	sell	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 skins	det
4	skins	skin	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 sold	obj
5	to	to	ADP	_	7 shoemakers	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 shoemakers	det
7	shoemakers	shoemaker	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 sold	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 gave	cc
9	gave	give	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 sold	conj
10	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	9 gave	iobj
11	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 bushel	det
12	bushel	bushel	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 gave	obj
13	of	of	ADP	_	14 silver	case
14	silver	silver	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 bushel	nmod
15	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 sold	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	sell	past	He	the skins	the shoemakers				vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent skin=Theme to shoemaker=Recipient
2	give	past	He not said here	a bushel of silver	skins = skin				vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent they=Recipient bushel=Theme

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

He cried out "Skins, skins," and answered every enquiry with "a bushel of money."

The tree, 14 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 cried	nsubj
2	cried	cry	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	out	out	ADP	_	2 cried	compound:prt
4	"	"	PUNCT	_	5 Skins	punct
5	Skins	skin	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 cried	obl
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	7 skins	punct
7	skins	skin	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 Skins	conj
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	5 Skins	punct
9	"	"	PUNCT	_	5 Skins	punct
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 answered	cc
11	answered	answer	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 cried	conj
12	every	every	DET	PronType=Tot	13 enquiry	det
13	enquiry	enquiry	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 answered	obj
14	with	with	ADP	_	17 bushel	case
15	"	"	PUNCT	_	17 bushel	punct
16	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	17 bushel	det
17	bushel	bushel	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 answered	obl
18	of	of	ADP	_	19 money	case
19	money	money	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 bushel	nmod
20	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 cried	punct
21	"	"	PUNCT	_	2 cried	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	cry out speech: express	past	He	Skins and skins					vn manner_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	answer speech: assert	past	every enquiry					with a bushel of money	vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Option 3

He had the shoemakers beaten with straps after he cried out "Skins, skins," and answered every enquiry with "a bushel of money" at the market.

The tree, 25 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 had	nsubj
2	had	have	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 shoemakers	det
4	shoemakers	shoemaker	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 had	obj
5	beaten	beat	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 shoemakers	acl
6	with	with	ADP	_	7 straps	case
7	straps	strap	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 beaten	obl
8	after	after	SCONJ	_	10 cried	mark
9	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	10 cried	nsubj
10	cried	cry	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 had	advcl
11	out	out	ADP	_	10 cried	compound:prt
12	"	"	PUNCT	_	13 Skins	punct
13	Skins	skin	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 cried	obl
14	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 skins	punct
15	skins	skin	NOUN	Number=Plur	13 Skins	conj
16	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 Skins	punct
17	"	"	PUNCT	_	13 Skins	punct
18	and	and	CCONJ	_	19 answered	cc
19	answered	answer	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 had	conj
20	every	every	DET	PronType=Tot	21 enquiry	det
21	enquiry	enquiry	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 answered	obj
22	with	with	ADP	_	25 bushel	case
23	"	"	PUNCT	_	25 bushel	punct
24	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	25 bushel	det
25	bushel	bushel	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 answered	obl
26	of	of	ADP	_	27 money	case
27	money	money	NOUN	Number=Sing	25 bushel	nmod
28	"	"	PUNCT	_	25 bushel	punct
29	at	at	ADP	_	31 market	case
30	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	31 market	det
31	market	market	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 answered	obl
32	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 had	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	have	past	He	the shoemakers			vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shoemaker=Patient
2	beat	participle		the shoemakers not said here		with straps	vn sound_emission-43.2 «NP.location V PP.theme»: agent=Location with strap=Theme
3	cry out speech: express	past	he	Skins and skins			vn manner_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent
4	answer speech: assert	past	every enquiry		the market	with a bushel of money	vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Option 4

He sold a bushel of skins to the shoemakers.

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 sold	nsubj
2	sold	sell	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 bushel	det
4	bushel	bushel	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 sold	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	6 skins	case
6	skins	skin	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 bushel	nmod
7	to	to	ADP	_	9 shoemakers	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 shoemakers	det
9	shoemakers	shoemaker	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 sold	obl
10	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 sold	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	sell	past	He	a bushel of skins	the shoemakers				vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent bushel=Theme to shoemaker=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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