Exam question 1 · Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Little Mermaid: the mermaid re…

Which of the following accurately describes the action by which the little mermaid resolves her final dilemma?

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 3 · right ✓ · Who acts: little mermaid · What happens: follow, describe, resolve · To what, where: action, final dilemma

This is exam question 1 of lesson 881 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Little Mermaid: the mermaid refuses the knife and rises among the daughters of the air» 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	4 following	nsubj
2	of	of	ADP	_	4 following	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 following	det
4	following	follow	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
5	accurately	accurately	ADV	_	6 describes	advmod
6	describes	describe	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 following	advcl
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 action	det
8	action	action	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 describes	obj
9	by	by	ADP	_	10 which	case
10	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	14 resolves	obl
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 mermaid	det
12	little	little	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 mermaid	amod
13	mermaid	mermaid	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 resolves	nsubj
14	resolves	resolve	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	8 action	acl:relcl
15	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	17 dilemma	nmod:poss
16	final	final	ADJ	Degree=Pos	17 dilemma	amod
17	dilemma	dilemma	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 resolves	obj
18	?	?	PUNCT	_	4 following	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	describe	present		the action	accurately property	vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent action=Theme
3	resolve	present	the little mermaid	mermaid's final dilemma	by the action	tree rules

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

She hides the weapon and gives up her body to the waves

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 hides	nsubj
2	hides	hide	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 weapon	det
4	weapon	weapon	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 hides	obj
5	and	and	CCONJ	_	6 gives	cc
6	gives	give	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 hides	conj
7	up	up	ADP	_	6 gives	compound:prt
8	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	9 body	nmod:poss
9	body	body	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 gives	iobj
10	to	to	ADP	_	12 waves	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 waves	det
12	waves	wave	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 gives	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	hide	present	She	the weapon					vn concealment-16-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent weapon=Patient
2	give up	present	She not said here		her body			to the waves	vn contribute-13.2 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent body=Theme to wave=Recipient

Option 2

She tosses the blade into the sea and accepts her fate as a spirit

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 tosses	nsubj
2	tosses	toss	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 blade	det
4	blade	blade	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 tosses	obj
5	into	into	ADP	_	7 sea	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 sea	det
7	sea	sea	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 tosses	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 accepts	cc
9	accepts	accept	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 tosses	conj
10	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	11 fate	nmod:poss
11	fate	fate	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 accepts	obj
12	as	as	ADP	_	14 spirit	case
13	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 spirit	det
14	spirit	spirit	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 accepts	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	toss	present	She	the blade	the sea		vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent blade=Patient into sea=Recipient
2	accept	present	She not said here	her fate		as a spirit	vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent fate=Theme as spirit=Attribute
3	fate		her = she				nom fate «event transitive»: poss=agent

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

She discards the instrument of murder into the sea and surrenders her earthly life

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 discards	nsubj
2	discards	discard	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 instrument	det
4	instrument	instrument	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 discards	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	6 murder	case
6	murder	murder	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 instrument	nmod
7	into	into	ADP	_	9 sea	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 sea	det
9	sea	sea	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 discards	obl
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 surrenders	cc
11	surrenders	surrender	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 discards	conj
12	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	14 life	nmod:poss
13	earthly	earthly	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 life	amod
14	life	life	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 surrenders	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	discard	present	She	the instrument of murder		the sea			vn throw-17.1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent instrument=Theme into sea=Destination
2	surrender	present	She not said here	her earthly life					vn contribute-13.2-1-1 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent life=Theme

Option 4

She drops the knife in the sea

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 drops	nsubj
2	drops	drop	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 knife	det
4	knife	knife	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 drops	obj
5	in	in	ADP	_	7 sea	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 sea	det
7	sea	sea	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 drops	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	drop	present	She	the knife		the sea			vn put_direction-9.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent knife=Theme in sea=Destination

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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