Exam question 3 · Openings that hook the reader

Select the opening consistent with the technique of commencing in the middle of the action.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, technique · What happens: select, commence · To what, where: opening, middle

This is exam question 3 of lesson 40 «Openings that hook the reader» 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	Select	select	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 opening	det
3	opening	opening	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Select	obj
4	consistent	consistent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	1 Select	xcomp
5	with	with	ADP	_	7 technique	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 technique	det
7	technique	technique	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 consistent	obl
8	of	of	SCONJ	_	9 commencing	mark
9	commencing	commence	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	7 technique	acl
10	in	in	ADP	_	12 middle	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 middle	det
12	middle	middle	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 commencing	obl
13	of	of	ADP	_	15 action	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 action	det
15	action	action	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 middle	nmod
16	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Select	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	select	imperative	you not said here	the opening				consistent property	vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent opening=Theme
2	commence	gerund	the technique not said here			the middle of the action			vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality

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

Once upon a time there lived a girl.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Once	once	ADV	NumForm=Word NumType=Mult	6 lived	advmod
2	upon	upon	ADP	_	4 time	case
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 time	det
4	time	time	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 lived	obl
5	there	there	ADV	PronType=Dem	6 lived	advmod
6	lived	live	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 girl	det
8	girl	girl	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 lived	obj
9	.	.	PUNCT	_	6 lived	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	live	past		a girl		there	time	once property	vn lodge-46 «NP V ADV»: agent=Theme girl=Location

Option 2

Ola was born in Norway in a cold town.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Ola	Ola	PROPN	Number=Sing	3 born	nsubj:pass
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 born	aux:pass
3	born	bear	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	in	in	ADP	_	5 Norway	case
5	Norway	Norway	PROPN	Number=Sing	3 born	obl
6	in	in	ADP	_	9 town	case
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 town	det
8	cold	cold	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 town	amod
9	town	town	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 born	obl
10	.	.	PUNCT	_	3 born	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	bear	past · passive		Ola		Norway		in a cold town	vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

The ice cracked beneath Ola's feet.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 ice	det
2	ice	ice	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 cracked	nsubj
3	cracked	crack	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	beneath	beneath	ADP	_	7 feet	case
5	Ola	Ola	PROPN	Number=Sing	7 feet	nmod:poss
6	's	's	PART	_	5 Ola	case
7	feet	foot	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 cracked	obl
8	.	.	PUNCT	_	3 cracked	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	crack	past	the ice			Ola's feet			vn sound_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme beneath foot=Location

Option 4

This narrative concerns a girl named Ola.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	This	this	DET	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	2 narrative	det
2	narrative	narrative	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 concerns	nsubj
3	concerns	concern	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 girl	det
5	girl	girl	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 concerns	obj
6	named	name	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 girl	acl
7	Ola	Ola	PROPN	Number=Sing	6 named	xcomp
8	.	.	PUNCT	_	3 concerns	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	concern	present	this narrative	a girl					vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus girl=Experiencer
2	name	participle		a girl not said here					vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/e3/