Exam question 2 · Counting to 100 and lucky numbers

Ascertain the principle by which Mandarin numerals between eleven and ninety-nine are composed.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you · What happens: ascertain, compose · To what, where: principle, Mandarin numerals

This is exam question 2 of lesson 7 «Counting to 100 and lucky numbers» 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	3 principle	det
3	principle	principle	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
4	by	by	ADP	_	5 which	case
5	which	which	DET	PronType=Int	7 numerals	det
6	Mandarin	Mandarin	PROPN	Number=Sing	7 numerals	compound
7	numerals	numeral	NOUN	Number=Plur	15 composed	nsubj:pass
8	between	between	ADP	_	9 eleven	case
9	eleven	eleven	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	7 numerals	nmod
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 nine	cc
11	ninety	ninety	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	13 nine	compound
12	-	-	PUNCT	_	11 ninety	punct
13	nine	nine	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	9 eleven	conj
14	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	15 composed	aux:pass
15	composed	compose	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	1 Ascertain	parataxis
16	.	.	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 principle					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent principle=Topic
2	compose	present · passive		which Mandarin numerals between eleven					vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Result

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

Numerals are borrowed from English

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Numerals	numeral	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 borrowed	nsubj:pass
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 borrowed	aux:pass
3	borrowed	borrow	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	from	from	ADP	_	5 English	case
5	English	English	PROPN	Number=Sing	3 borrowed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	borrow	present · passive		Numerals		English			vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: subject=Theme from english=Source

Option 2

Units always precede the tens, as in «two-and-twenty»

The tree, 10 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Units	unit	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 precede	nsubj
2	always	always	ADV	PronType=Tot	3 precede	advmod
3	precede	precede	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 tens	det
5	tens	ten	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 precede	obj
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 twenty	punct
7	as	as	ADP	ExtPos=ADP	14 twenty	case
8	in	in	ADP	_	7 as	fixed
9	«	«	PUNCT	_	14 twenty	punct
10	two	two	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	14 twenty	nummod
11	-	-	PUNCT	_	14 twenty	punct
12	and	and	CCONJ	_	14 twenty	cc
13	-	-	PUNCT	_	12 and	punct
14	twenty	twenty	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	3 precede	obl
15	»	»	PUNCT	_	3 precede	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	precede	infinitive	Units	the tens				as two twenty; always property	vn contiguous_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme ten=Co-Theme

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

Tens are named by a preceding digit, and units follow shí

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Tens	ten	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 named	nsubj:pass
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 named	aux:pass
3	named	name	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	ADP	_	7 digit	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 digit	det
6	preceding	precede	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	7 digit	amod
7	digit	digit	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 named	obl
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 follow	punct
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 follow	cc
10	units	unit	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 follow	nsubj
11	follow	follow	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 named	conj
12	shí	shí	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 follow	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	name	present · passive	a preceding digit	Tens	vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme
2	precede	gerund			vn contiguous_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme
3	follow	present	units	shí	vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shí=Theme

Option 4

Each numeral up to one hundred has an unrelated name

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	2 numeral	det
2	numeral	numeral	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 has	nsubj
3	up	up	ADP	_	2 numeral	compound
4	to	to	ADP	_	6 hundred	case
5	one	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	6 hundred	compound
6	hundred	hundred	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	2 numeral	nmod
7	has	have	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
8	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 name	det
9	unrelated	unrelated	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 name	amod
10	name	name	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 has	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	have	present	each numeral to one hundred	a unrelated name					vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent name=Patient

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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