Exam question 3 · How to learn spellings that stick

Ascertain the most prudent use of an automatic spelling checker.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: you · What happens: ascertain, use · To what, where: prudent use, automatic spelling checker

This is exam question 3 of lesson 15 «How to learn spellings that stick» 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	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 use	det
3	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	4 prudent	advmod
4	prudent	prudent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 use	amod
5	use	use	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
6	of	of	ADP	_	10 checker	case
7	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 checker	det
8	automatic	automatic	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 checker	amod
9	spelling	spelling	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 checker	compound
10	checker	checker	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 use	nmod
11	.	.	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 prudent use of a automatic spelling checker					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent use=Topic
2	use			a automatic spelling checker					nom use «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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

Its suggestions should be read and verified against the intended word

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 suggestions	nmod:poss
2	suggestions	suggestion	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 read	nsubj:pass
3	should	should	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	5 read	aux
4	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	5 read	aux:pass
5	read	read	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	7 verified	cc
7	verified	verify	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 read	conj
8	against	against	ADP	_	11 word	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 word	det
10	intended	intend	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	11 word	amod
11	word	word	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 verified	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	read	should · passive		Its suggestions		vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic
2	verify	participle			against the intended word	vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	intend	participle				vn intend-61.2-1-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Agent
4	suggest		Its = it			nom suggestion «cognition intransitive»: poss=agent

Option 2

It should be disregarded in all circumstances

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 disregarded	nsubj:pass
2	should	should	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	4 disregarded	aux
3	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	4 disregarded	aux:pass
4	disregarded	disregard	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	in	in	ADP	_	7 circumstances	case
6	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	7 circumstances	det
7	circumstances	circumstance	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 disregarded	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	disregard	should · passive		It		all circumstances			vn neglect-75.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme

Option 3

Its suggestions should be accepted without examination

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 suggestions	nmod:poss
2	suggestions	suggestion	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 accepted	nsubj:pass
3	should	should	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	5 accepted	aux
4	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	5 accepted	aux:pass
5	accepted	accept	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	without	without	ADP	_	7 examination	case
7	examination	examination	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 accepted	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	accept	should · passive		Its suggestions				without examination	vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	suggest		Its = it						nom suggestion «cognition intransitive»: poss=agent

Option 4

It should be employed only for words of one syllable, longer words being beyond its competence

The tree, 16 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	4 employed	nsubj:pass
2	should	should	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	4 employed	aux
3	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	4 employed	aux:pass
4	employed	employ	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	only	only	ADV	_	7 words	advmod
6	for	for	ADP	_	7 words	case
7	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 employed	obl
8	of	of	ADP	_	10 syllable	case
9	one	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	10 syllable	nummod
10	syllable	syllable	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 words	nmod
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	17 competence	punct
12	longer	long	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	13 words	amod
13	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	17 competence	nsubj
14	being	be	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	17 competence	cop
15	beyond	beyond	ADP	_	17 competence	case
16	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	17 competence	nmod:poss
17	competence	competence	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 employed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	employ	should · passive		It	for words of one syllable	vn use-105.1 «NP V NP PP.predicate»: subject=Theme for word=Eventuality
2	is	gerund	longer words		beyond syllable's competence	tree rules
3	word			one syllable		nom word «communication transitive»: of=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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