Exam question 4 · Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Metal Pig, part 109: the boy v…

To whom does the mother direct her violence, and by what means does she carry it out?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: mother · What happens: do, direct, mean, carry out · To what, where: violence

This is exam question 4 of lesson 898 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Metal Pig, part 109: the boy visits the Florence churches, then is shoved around by his mother and finds a kind home» 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	To	to	ADP	_	2 whom	case
2	whom	whom	PRON	PronType=Rel	6 direct	obl
3	does	do	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 whom	acl:relcl
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 mother	det
5	mother	mother	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 direct	nsubj
6	direct	direct	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
7	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	8 violence	nmod:poss
8	violence	violence	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 direct	obj
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 means	punct
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 means	cc
11	by	by	ADP	_	12 what	case
12	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	13 means	nsubj
13	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 direct	parataxis
14	does	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	16 carry	aux
15	she	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	16 carry	nsubj
16	carry	carry	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	13 means	xcomp
17	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	16 carry	obj
18	out	out	ADP	_	16 carry	compound:prt
19	?	?	PUNCT	_	6 direct	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	do	present			vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	direct	past	the mother	mother's violence	vn supervision-95.2.2-1 «NP V NP.predicate»: agent=Agent violence=Eventuality
3	mean	present			vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
4	carry out not said to happen	present · do-support	mother	violence	vn act-114 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Eventuality

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

She beats the boy with a stick and throws a shoe at his head

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 beats	nsubj
2	beats	beat	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 boy	det
4	boy	boy	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 beats	obj
5	with	with	ADP	_	7 stick	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 stick	det
7	stick	stick	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 beats	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 throws	cc
9	throws	throw	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 beats	conj
10	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 shoe	det
11	shoe	shoe	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 throws	obj
12	at	at	ADP	_	14 head	case
13	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	14 head	nmod:poss
14	head	head	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 throws	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	beat	present	She	the boy				with a stick	vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent boy=Patient with stick=Instrument
2	throw	present	She not said here	a shoe		boy's head			vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent shoe=Theme at head=Destination

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

She strikes the boy with her foot and swings a fire-pot at him

The tree, 14 words

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 strikes	nsubj
2	strikes	strike	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 boy	det
4	boy	boy	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 strikes	obj
5	with	with	ADP	_	7 foot	case
6	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	7 foot	nmod:poss
7	foot	foot	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 strikes	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 swings	cc
9	swings	swing	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 strikes	conj
10	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 pot	det
11	fire	fire	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 pot	compound
12	-	-	PUNCT	_	11 fire	punct
13	pot	pot	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 swings	obj
14	at	at	ADP	_	15 him	case
15	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	9 swings	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	strike	present	She	the boy				with her foot	vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent boy=Patient with foot=Instrument
2	swing	present	She not said here	a fire pot				at boy	vn spatial_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V NP.theme PP»: agent=Agent pot=Theme at he=Location

Option 3

She grabs the boy by the arm and drags him to the door

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 grabs	nsubj
2	grabs	grab	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 boy	det
4	boy	boy	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 grabs	obj
5	by	by	ADP	_	7 arm	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 arm	det
7	arm	arm	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 grabs	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 drags	cc
9	drags	drag	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 grabs	conj
10	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	9 drags	obj
11	to	to	ADP	_	13 door	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 door	det
13	door	door	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 drags	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	grab	present	She	the boy				by the arm	vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent boy=Theme
2	drag	present	She not said here	boy		the door			vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent he=Theme to door=Destination

Option 4

She strikes the boy with her open hand and then swings a heavy fire-pot at his head in the kitchen while the neighbours watch

The tree, 25 words

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 strikes	nsubj
2	strikes	strike	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 boy	det
4	boy	boy	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 strikes	obj
5	with	with	ADP	_	8 hand	case
6	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	8 hand	nmod:poss
7	open	open	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 hand	amod
8	hand	hand	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 strikes	obl
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 swings	cc
10	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	11 swings	advmod
11	swings	swing	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 strikes	conj
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	16 pot	det
13	heavy	heavy	ADJ	Degree=Pos	16 pot	amod
14	fire	fire	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 pot	compound
15	-	-	PUNCT	_	14 fire	punct
16	pot	pot	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 swings	obj
17	at	at	ADP	_	19 head	case
18	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	19 head	nmod:poss
19	head	head	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 swings	obl
20	in	in	ADP	_	22 kitchen	case
21	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	22 kitchen	det
22	kitchen	kitchen	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 swings	obl
23	while	while	SCONJ	_	26 watch	mark
24	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	25 neighbours	det
25	neighbours	neighbour	NOUN	Number=Plur	26 watch	nsubj
26	watch	watch	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	11 swings	advcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	strike	present	She	the boy			with her open hand	vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent boy=Patient with hand=Instrument
2	swing	present	She not said here	a heavy fire pot	boy's head	then	in the kitchen	vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.agent V NP.theme PP.source PP.trajectory PP.destination»: agent=Agent pot=Theme at head=Source in kitchen=Trajectory
3	watch	present	the neighbours					vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent

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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