Exam question 3 · Just So Stories, The Butterfly that Stamped, part 2: the B…

It is given that the Queens descended the marble steps. Select the response most consistent with their subsequent conduct upon beholding the King.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: Queens, you, subsequent conduct · What happens: give, descend, select, behold, conduct · To what, where: It, marble steps, response, King

This is exam question 3 of lesson 97 «Just So Stories, The Butterfly that Stamped, part 2: the Butterfly stamps, Balkis is wise, and the book ends» 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

Sentence 1: It is given that the Queens descended the marble steps.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 given	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 given	aux:pass
3	given	give	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	that	that	SCONJ	_	7 descended	mark
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 Queens	det
6	Queens	queen	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 descended	nsubj
7	descended	descend	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 given	advcl
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 steps	det
9	marble	marble	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 steps	compound
10	steps	step	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 descended	obj
11	.	.	PUNCT	_	3 given	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	give	present · passive		It					vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	descend	past	the Queens	the marble steps					vn meander-47.7-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location step=Theme

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.

Sentence 2: Select the response most consistent with their subsequent conduct upon beholding the King.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Select	select	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 response	det
3	response	response	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Select	obj
4	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	5 consistent	advmod
5	consistent	consistent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 response	amod
6	with	with	ADP	_	9 conduct	case
7	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	9 conduct	nmod:poss
8	subsequent	subsequent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 conduct	amod
9	conduct	conduct	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 consistent	obl
10	upon	upon	SCONJ	_	11 beholding	mark
11	beholding	behold	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	9 conduct	acl
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 King	det
13	King	King	PROPN	Number=Sing	11 beholding	obj
14	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Select	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	select	imperative	you not said here	the response	vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme
2	behold	gerund	Queens's subsequent conduct not said here	the King	vn sight-30.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer king=Stimulus
3	conduct		Queens = queen		nom conduct «act transitive»: poss=agent

The options

Option 1 · ← Mova's choice

They fell upon their faces, then rose and sang a loud hymn to the King of Kings in the garden

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 fell	nsubj
2	fell	fall	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	upon	upon	ADP	_	5 faces	case
4	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	5 faces	nmod:poss
5	faces	face	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 fell	obl
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 rose	punct
7	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	8 rose	advmod
8	rose	rise	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 fell	conj
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 sang	cc
10	sang	sing	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 fell	conj
11	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 hymn	det
12	loud	loud	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 hymn	amod
13	hymn	hymn	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 sang	obj
14	to	to	ADP	_	16 King	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 King	det
16	King	King	PROPN	Number=Sing	13 hymn	nmod
17	of	of	ADP	_	18 Kings	case
18	Kings	King	PROPN	Number=Plur	16 King	nmod
19	in	in	ADP	_	21 garden	case
20	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	21 garden	det
21	garden	garden	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 sang	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	roles by
1	fall	past	They			their faces		vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme upon face=Location
2	rise	past	They not said here				then	vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	sing speech: express	past	They not said here	a loud hymn	the King of Kings	the garden		vn manner_speaking-37.3 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent hymn=Topic to king=Recipient

Option 2

They wept and begged the King to forgive them for it

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 wept	nsubj
2	wept	weep	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	and	and	CCONJ	_	4 begged	cc
4	begged	beg	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 wept	conj
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 King	det
6	King	King	PROPN	Number=Sing	4 begged	obj
7	to	to	PART	_	8 forgive	mark
8	forgive	forgive	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 begged	ccomp
9	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	8 forgive	obj
10	for	for	ADP	_	11 it	case
11	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	8 forgive	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	other	roles by
1	weep	past	They				vn breathe-40.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	beg speech: request	past	They not said here		the King		vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Agent king=Recipient clause=Topic
3	forgive not said to happen	to-infinitive		them = they		for it	vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent they=Theme for it=Attribute

Option 3

They laughed and bowed to the King with great respect

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 laughed	nsubj
2	laughed	laugh	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	and	and	CCONJ	_	4 bowed	cc
4	bowed	bow	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 laughed	conj
5	to	to	ADP	_	7 King	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 King	det
7	King	King	PROPN	Number=Sing	4 bowed	obl
8	with	with	ADP	_	10 respect	case
9	great	great	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 respect	amod
10	respect	respect	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 bowed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	laugh	past	They						vn nonverbal_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	bow	past	They not said here					to the King; with great respect	vn acquiesce-95.1-1 «NP V PP.pivot»: agent=Agent to king=Pivot

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

They fell upon their faces and withdrew most mousy-quiet

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 fell	nsubj
2	fell	fall	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	upon	upon	ADP	_	5 faces	case
4	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	5 faces	nmod:poss
5	faces	face	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 fell	obl
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	7 withdrew	cc
7	withdrew	withdraw	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 fell	conj
8	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	9 mousy	advmod
9	mousy	mousy	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 quiet	amod
10	-	-	PUNCT	_	9 mousy	punct
11	quiet	quiet	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 withdrew	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	fall	past	They			their faces			vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme upon face=Location
2	withdraw	past	They not said here					quiet property	vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

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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