Exam question 2 · Colours

Ascertain the reason for which the presentation of a green hat to a man is to be avoided.

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 1 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you · What happens: ascertain, avoid, present · To what, where: reason, presentation, green hat

This is exam question 2 of lesson 8 «Colours» 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 reason	det
3	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
4	for	for	ADP	_	5 which	case
5	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	18 avoided	obl
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 presentation	det
7	presentation	presentation	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 avoided	nsubj:pass
8	of	of	ADP	_	11 hat	case
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 hat	det
10	green	green	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 hat	amod
11	hat	hat	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 presentation	nmod
12	to	to	ADP	_	14 man	case
13	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 man	det
14	man	man	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 hat	nmod
15	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	18 avoided	aux:pass
16	to	to	PART	_	18 avoided	mark
17	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	18 avoided	aux:pass
18	avoided	avoid	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 reason	acl:relcl
19	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the reason		vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic
2	avoid	present · passive	you not said here	the presentation of a green hat to a man	for the reason	vn avoid-52 «NP V NP.location»: subject=Location
3	present			a green hat to a man		nom presentation «act transitive»: of=patient

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 · ✓ the right answer

It is a well-known jest concerning a man made a fool of

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	7 jest	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 jest	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 jest	det
4	well	well	ADV	Degree=Pos	6 known	advmod
5	-	-	PUNCT	_	4 well	punct
6	known	know	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	7 jest	amod
7	jest	jest	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 made	nsubj
8	concerning	concern	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	7 jest	acl
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 man	det
10	man	man	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 concerning	obj
11	made	make	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 fool	det
13	fool	fool	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 made	obj
14	of	of	ADP	_	13 fool	case

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	know	participle			well property	vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer
2	is a	present	It	a known jest		tree rules
3	concern	gerund	a known jest not said here	a man		vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus man=Experiencer
4	make	past	a known jest	a fool		vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset fool=Product

Option 2

Green is the colour customarily worn in mourning

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Green	green	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 colour	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 colour	cop
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 colour	det
4	colour	colour	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	customarily	customarily	ADV	_	6 worn	advmod
6	worn	wear	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 colour	acl
7	in	in	ADP	_	8 mourning	case
8	mourning	mourning	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 worn	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	Green	the colour					tree rules
2	wear	participle		the colour not said here		mourning		customarily property	vn wipe_manner-10.4.1-1 «NP V PP-Conative»: agent=Agent

Option 3

Green signifies poverty

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Green	green	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 signifies	nsubj
2	signifies	signify	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	poverty	poverty	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 signifies	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	signify	present	Green	poverty					vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot poverty=Theme

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice

Hats may not be given as gifts under any circumstances

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Hats	hat	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 given	nsubj:pass
2	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	5 given	aux
3	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	5 given	advmod
4	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	5 given	aux:pass
5	given	give	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	as	as	ADP	_	7 gifts	case
7	gifts	gift	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 given	obl
8	under	under	ADP	_	10 circumstances	case
9	any	any	DET	PronType=Ind	10 circumstances	det
10	circumstances	circumstance	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 given	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	not give	may · passive		Hats		any circumstances		as gifts	vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=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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