Exam question 1 · i before e, silent letters and other famous traps

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the rule «i before e except after c»?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: i · What happens: follow, characteris, e · To what, where: rule

This is exam question 1 of lesson 10 «i before e, silent letters and other famous traps» of the English 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	Which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 characterises	nsubj
2	of	of	ADP	_	5 statements	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 statements	det
4	following	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 statements	amod
5	statements	statement	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 characterises	obl
6	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	7 accurately	advmod
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	_	8 characterises	advmod
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 rule	det
10	rule	rule	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	«	«	PUNCT	_	14 e	punct
12	i	I	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs	14 e	nsubj
13	before	before	SCONJ	_	14 e	advmod
14	e	e	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 rule	appos
15	except	except	ADP	_	17 c	case
16	after	after	ADP	_	17 c	case
17	c	c	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 e	obl
18	»	»	PUNCT	_	14 e	punct
19	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the rule	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	e in a quote	present	i		except c	tree rules

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 right answer

It is a reliable guide for words containing the sound /ee/, subject to exceptions

The tree, 14 words

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	5 guide	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 guide	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 guide	det
4	reliable	reliable	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 guide	amod
5	guide	guide	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	for	for	ADP	_	7 words	case
7	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 guide	nmod
8	containing	contain	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	7 words	acl
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 sound	det
10	sound	sound	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 containing	obj
11	/	/	PUNCT	_	12 ee	punct
12	ee	ee	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 sound	appos
13	/	/	PUNCT	_	12 ee	punct
14	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 subject	punct
15	subject	subject	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 guide	conj
16	to	to	ADP	_	17 exceptions	case
17	exceptions	exception	NOUN	Number=Plur	15 subject	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a reliable guide and subject to exceptions				for words	tree rules
2	contain	gerund	words not said here	the sound					vn comprise-107.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot sound=Theme

Option 2

It applies without exception to every word in the language

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 applies	nsubj
2	applies	apply	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	without	without	ADP	_	4 exception	case
4	exception	exception	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 applies	obl
5	to	to	ADP	_	7 word	case
6	every	every	DET	PronType=Tot	7 word	det
7	word	word	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 applies	obl
8	in	in	ADP	_	10 language	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 language	det
10	language	language	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 word	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	apply	present	It					without exception; to every word in the language	vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

Option 3

It was abolished by the examination boards some decades ago and is no longer taught in any school of the kingdom

The tree, 21 words

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 abolished	nsubj:pass
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 abolished	aux:pass
3	abolished	abolish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	SCONJ	_	7 boards	mark
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 examination	det
6	examination	examination	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 boards	nsubj
7	boards	board	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 abolished	advcl
8	some	some	DET	PronType=Ind	9 decades	det
9	decades	decade	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 boards	obj
10	ago	ago	ADV	_	7 boards	advmod
11	and	and	CCONJ	_	15 taught	cc
12	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	15 taught	aux:pass
13	no	no	ADV	_	14 longer	advmod
14	longer	long	ADV	Degree=Cmp	15 taught	advmod
15	taught	teach	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 abolished	conj
16	in	in	ADP	_	18 school	case
17	any	any	DET	PronType=Ind	18 school	det
18	school	school	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 taught	obl
19	of	of	ADP	_	21 kingdom	case
20	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	21 kingdom	det
21	kingdom	kingdom	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 school	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	abolish	past · passive		It				vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	board	present	the examination			decade	ago property	vn odge-46-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme
3	teach speech: other	present · passive			any school of the kingdom		long property	vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»

Option 4

It applies exclusively to words commencing with the letter c

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 applies	nsubj
2	applies	apply	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	exclusively	exclusively	ADV	_	2 applies	advmod
4	to	to	ADP	_	5 words	case
5	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 applies	obl
6	commencing	commence	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 words	acl
7	with	with	ADP	_	10 c	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 c	det
9	letter	letter	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 c	compound
10	c	c	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 commencing	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	apply	present	It					to words; exclusively property	vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
2	commence	gerund	words not said here					with the letter c	vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V PP.subeventuality»: agent=Eventuality with c=Subeventuality

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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