Exam question 4 · Andersen's Tales, The Old Grave-Stone, part 131: the old g…

With reference to the passage, describe the advice which the invisible spirit gave to the youngest boy regarding the seed.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, invisible spirit · What happens: describe, give, regard · To what, where: advice, youngest boy

This is exam question 4 of lesson 920 «Andersen's Tales, The Old Grave-Stone, part 131: the old grave-stone is remembered, and a new tale begins with an old house and a leaking dragon gutter» 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	With	with	ADP	_	2 reference	case
2	reference	reference	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 describe	obl
3	to	to	ADP	_	5 passage	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 passage	det
5	passage	passage	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 reference	nmod
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	2 reference	punct
7	describe	describe	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 advice	det
9	advice	advice	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 describe	obj
10	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	14 gave	obj
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 spirit	det
12	invisible	invisible	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 spirit	amod
13	spirit	spirit	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 gave	nsubj
14	gave	give	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	9 advice	acl:relcl
15	to	to	ADP	_	18 boy	case
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 boy	det
17	youngest	young	ADJ	Degree=Sup	18 boy	amod
18	boy	boy	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 gave	obl
19	regarding	regard	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	21 seed	case
20	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	21 seed	det
21	seed	seed	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 boy	nmod
22	.	.	PUNCT	_	7 describe	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	other	roles by
1	describe	imperative	you not said here	the advice		with reference to the passage	vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent advice=Theme
2	give	past	the invisible spirit	the advice	the youngest boy regard the seed		vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent which=Theme to boy=Recipient
3	regard	gerund					vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=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

The spirit told him to water the seed every single day

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 spirit	det
2	spirit	spirit	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 told	nsubj
3	told	tell	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 told	iobj
5	to	to	PART	_	6 water	mark
6	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 told	ccomp
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 seed	det
8	seed	seed	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 told	obj
9	every	every	DET	PronType=Tot	11 day	det
10	single	single	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 day	amod
11	day	day	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 told	obl:unmarked

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	tell speech: assert	past	the spirit	the seed	him = he		day		vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient seed=Topic

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

The spirit bade him preserve the seed carefully and guard it well

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 bade	det
2	spirit	spirit	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 bade	compound
3	bade	bade	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 preserve	obl
4	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	5 preserve	nsubj
5	preserve	preserve	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 seed	det
7	seed	seed	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 preserve	obj
8	carefully	carefully	ADV	_	5 preserve	advmod
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 guard	cc
10	guard	guard	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	5 preserve	conj
11	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	10 guard	obj
12	well	well	ADV	Degree=Pos	10 guard	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	preserve	present	him = he	the spirit bade				carefully property	vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent seed=Beneficiary
2	guard	infinitive	him = he not said here	seed				well property	vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Beneficiary

Option 3

The invisible voice commanded the boy to take the seed to the convent and bury it under the old grave-stone for ever

The tree, 23 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 voice	det
2	invisible	invisible	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 voice	amod
3	voice	voice	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 commanded	nsubj
4	commanded	command	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 boy	det
6	boy	boy	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 commanded	obj
7	to	to	PART	_	8 take	mark
8	take	take	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 commanded	advcl
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 seed	det
10	seed	seed	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 take	obj
11	to	to	ADP	_	13 convent	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 convent	det
13	convent	convent	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 take	obl
14	and	and	CCONJ	_	15 bury	cc
15	bury	bury	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	8 take	conj
16	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	15 bury	obj
17	under	under	ADP	_	22 stone	case
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	22 stone	det
19	old	old	ADJ	Degree=Pos	22 stone	amod
20	grave	grave	NOUN	Number=Sing	22 stone	compound
21	-	-	PUNCT	_	20 grave	punct
22	stone	stone	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 bury	obl
23	for	for	ADP	_	24 ever	case
24	ever	ever	ADV	PronType=Ind	15 bury	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	command	past	the invisible voice	the boy		vn supervision-95.2.2-1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent boy=Theme
2	take	to-infinitive	the invisible voice not said here	the seed	the convent	vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent seed=Theme to convent=Destination
3	bury	infinitive	the invisible voice not said here	seed	the old grave stone	vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent it=Theme under stone=Destination

Option 4

The spirit urged him to carefully protect the seed from all harm and to sow it only when the time was right

The tree, 22 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 spirit	det
2	spirit	spirit	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 urged	nsubj
3	urged	urge	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 urged	iobj
5	to	to	PART	_	7 protect	mark
6	carefully	carefully	ADV	_	7 protect	advmod
7	protect	protect	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	3 urged	advcl
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 seed	det
9	seed	seed	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 protect	obj
10	from	from	ADP	_	12 harm	case
11	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	12 harm	det
12	harm	harm	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 protect	obl
13	and	and	CCONJ	_	15 sow	cc
14	to	to	PART	_	15 sow	mark
15	sow	sow	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	7 protect	conj
16	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	15 sow	obj
17	only	only	ADV	_	22 right	advmod
18	when	when	ADV	PronType=Int	22 right	advmod
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 time	det
20	time	time	NOUN	Number=Sing	22 right	nsubj
21	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	22 right	cop
22	right	right	ADJ	Degree=Pos	15 sow	advcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	other	roles by
1	urge	past	the spirit		him = he		vn urge-58.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient
2	protect	to-infinitive	the spirit not said here	the seed		from all harm; carefully property	vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent seed=Beneficiary from harm=Theme
3	sow	to-infinitive	the spirit not said here	seed			vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent it=Theme
4	is	past	the time			right property	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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/920-pg27200-part131/e4/