Exam question 2 · Counting 1 to 10, on one hand

Ascertain the principal reason for which the numeral sì is regarded by many families as inauspicious.

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, many families · What happens: ascertain, regard · To what, where: principal reason, numeral sì

This is exam question 2 of lesson 6 «Counting 1 to 10, on one hand» of the Chinese street 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	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 reason	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 reason	amod
4	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
5	for	for	ADP	_	6 which	case
6	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	11 regarded	obl
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 sì	det
8	numeral	numeral	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 sì	compound
9	sì	sì	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 regarded	nsubj:pass
10	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	11 regarded	aux:pass
11	regarded	regard	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 reason	acl:relcl
12	by	by	ADP	_	14 families	case
13	many	many	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 families	amod
14	families	family	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 regarded	obl
15	as	as	ADP	_	16 inauspicious	case
16	inauspicious	inauspicious	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 regarded	obl
17	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the principal reason					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic
2	regard	present · passive	many families	the numeral sì				for the principal reason; as inauspicious	vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent subject=Theme for which=Attribute

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

It resembles the word for excrement

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	2 resembles	nsubj
2	resembles	resemble	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 word	det
4	word	word	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 resembles	obj
5	for	for	ADP	_	6 excrement	case
6	excrement	excrement	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 word	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	resemble	present	It	the word				for excrement	tree rules

Option 2

It was the number reserved for the emperor

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	4 number	nsubj
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 number	cop
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 number	det
4	number	number	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	reserved	reserve	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 number	acl
6	for	for	ADP	_	8 emperor	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 emperor	det
8	emperor	emperor	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 reserved	obl:agent

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	past	It	the number					tree rules
2	reserve	participle		the number not said here					vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

Its pronunciation resembles the verb signifying «to die»

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	2 pronunciation	nmod:poss
2	pronunciation	pronunciation	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 resembles	nsubj
3	resembles	resemble	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 verb	det
5	verb	verb	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 resembles	obj
6	signifying	signify	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 verb	acl
7	«	«	PUNCT	_	9 die	punct
8	to	to	PART	_	9 die	mark
9	die	die	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	6 signifying	ccomp
10	»	»	PUNCT	_	9 die	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	resemble	present	Its pronunciation	the verb	tree rules
2	signify	gerund	the verb not said here		tree rules
3	die in a quote	to-infinitive	the verb not said here		vn calibratable_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute
4	pronounce		Its = it		nom pronunciation «communication transitive»: poss=agent

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice

It is regarded as an odd number and therefore unfortunate

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 regarded	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 regarded	aux:pass
3	regarded	regard	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	as	as	ADP	_	7 number	case
5	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 number	det
6	odd	odd	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 number	amod
7	number	number	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 regarded	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 unfortunate	cc
9	therefore	therefore	ADV	_	10 unfortunate	advmod
10	unfortunate	unfortunate	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 regarded	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	regard	present · passive		It				as a odd number	vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP PP.value»: subject=Theme as number=Value

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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