Exam question 4 · Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Little Mermaid: the mermaid re…

Which of the following best characterises the function of the daughters of the air as described by their own speech in the text?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: best, daughters · What happens: follow, characteris, describe, speak · To what, where: function, text · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 4 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	6 characterises	obj
2	of	of	ADP	_	5 best	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 best	det
4	following	follow	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	5 best	case
5	best	good	ADJ	Degree=Sup	6 characterises	nsubj
6	characterises	characteris	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 function	det
8	function	function	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 characterises	obj
9	of	of	ADP	_	11 daughters	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 daughters	det
11	daughters	daughter	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 function	nmod
12	of	of	ADP	_	14 air	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 air	det
14	air	air	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 daughters	nmod
15	as	as	SCONJ	_	16 described	mark
16	described	describe	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 characterises	advcl
17	by	by	ADP	_	20 speech	case
18	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	20 speech	nmod:poss
19	own	own	ADJ	Degree=Pos	20 speech	amod
20	speech	speech	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 described	obl
21	in	in	ADP	_	23 text	case
22	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	23 text	det
23	text	text	NOUN	Number=Sing	20 speech	nmod
24	?	?	PUNCT	_	6 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund					vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present	the best	the function of the daughters of the air			tree rules
3	describe	participle	the best not said here			by daughters's own speech in the text	vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Agent
4	speak		daughters = daughter		the text		nom speech «communication transitive»: poss=agent in=place

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 · ✓ the right answer

They strive through benevolent acts to acquire an immortal soul over a prescribed period

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 strive	nsubj
2	strive	strive	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	through	through	ADP	_	5 acts	case
4	benevolent	benevolent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 acts	amod
5	acts	act	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 strive	obl
6	to	to	PART	_	7 acquire	mark
7	acquire	acquire	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 strive	advcl
8	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 soul	det
9	immortal	immortal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 soul	amod
10	soul	soul	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 acquire	obj
11	over	over	ADP	_	14 period	case
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 period	det
13	prescribed	prescribe	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	14 period	amod
14	period	period	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 acquire	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	strive	present	They		benevolent acts	tree rules
2	acquire	to-infinitive	They not said here	a immortal soul	a prescribed period	vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset soul=Theme
3	prescribe	participle				tree rules

Option 2

They strive through many benevolent acts in warm lands to acquire an immortal soul over a prescribed period of time

The tree, 20 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 strive	nsubj
2	strive	strive	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	through	through	ADP	_	6 acts	case
4	many	many	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 acts	amod
5	benevolent	benevolent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 acts	amod
6	acts	act	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 strive	obl
7	in	in	ADP	_	9 lands	case
8	warm	warm	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 lands	amod
9	lands	land	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 acts	nmod
10	to	to	PART	_	11 acquire	mark
11	acquire	acquire	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 strive	advcl
12	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 soul	det
13	immortal	immortal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 soul	amod
14	soul	soul	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 acquire	obj
15	over	over	ADP	_	18 period	case
16	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	18 period	det
17	prescribed	prescribe	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	18 period	amod
18	period	period	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 acquire	obl
19	of	of	ADP	_	20 time	case
20	time	time	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 period	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	strive	present	They		many benevolent acts in warm lands	tree rules
2	acquire	to-infinitive	They not said here	a immortal soul	a prescribed period of time	vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset soul=Theme
3	prescribe	participle				tree rules

Option 3

They seek through charity to win an eternal soul in due course

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 seek	nsubj
2	seek	seek	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	through	through	ADP	_	4 charity	case
4	charity	charity	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 seek	obl
5	to	to	PART	_	6 win	mark
6	win	win	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 seek	advcl
7	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 soul	det
8	eternal	eternal	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 soul	compound
9	soul	soul	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 win	obj
10	in	in	ADP	_	12 course	case
11	due	due	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 course	amod
12	course	course	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 win	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	seek	present	They			charity			vn hunt-35.1 «NP V PP.theme PP.location»: agent=Agent through charity=Location
2	win	to-infinitive	They not said here	a eternal soul		due course			vn succeed-74-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent soul=Eventuality

Option 4

They strive through benevolent acts to acquire an immortal soul over a prescribed period of three hundred years

The tree, 18 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 strive	nsubj
2	strive	strive	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	through	through	ADP	_	5 acts	case
4	benevolent	benevolent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 acts	amod
5	acts	act	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 strive	obl
6	to	to	PART	_	7 acquire	mark
7	acquire	acquire	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 strive	advcl
8	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 soul	det
9	immortal	immortal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 soul	amod
10	soul	soul	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 acquire	obj
11	over	over	ADP	_	14 period	case
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 period	det
13	prescribed	prescribe	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	14 period	amod
14	period	period	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 acquire	obl
15	of	of	ADP	_	18 years	case
16	three	three	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	17 hundred	compound
17	hundred	hundred	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	18 years	nummod
18	years	year	NOUN	Number=Plur	14 period	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	strive	present	They		benevolent acts	tree rules
2	acquire	to-infinitive	They not said here	a immortal soul	a prescribed period of hundred years	vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset soul=Theme
3	prescribe	participle				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.

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