Exam question 1 · Writing to inform, instruct and persuade

Identify the principal feature of instructional writing.

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 2 · right ✓ · Who acts: you · What happens: identify, feature · To what, where: principal feature, instructional writing

This is exam question 1 of lesson 44 «Writing to inform, instruct and persuade» 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	Identify	identify	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 feature	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 feature	amod
4	feature	feature	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	7 writing	case
6	instructional	instructional	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 writing	amod
7	writing	writing	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 feature	nmod
8	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	the principal feature of instructional writing					vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent feature=Theme
2	feature			instructional writing					nom feature «cognition 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

A narrative recounted from a single viewpoint

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 narrative	det
2	narrative	narrative	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	recounted	recount	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 narrative	acl
4	from	from	ADP	_	7 viewpoint	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 viewpoint	det
6	single	single	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 viewpoint	amod
7	viewpoint	viewpoint	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 recounted	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	recount speech: other	participle		a narrative not said here		a single viewpoint			vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

A sequence of numbered steps employing imperative verbs

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 sequence	det
2	sequence	sequence	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 steps	case
4	numbered	number	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 steps	amod
5	steps	step	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 sequence	nmod
6	employing	employ	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 steps	acl
7	imperative	imperative	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 verbs	amod
8	verbs	verb	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 employing	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	number	participle							vn classify-29.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
2	employ	gerund	numbered steps not said here	imperative verbs					vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent verb=Theme

Option 3

A collection of rhyming couplets

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 collection	det
2	collection	collection	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 couplets	case
4	rhyming	rhyme	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 couplets	amod
5	couplets	couplet	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 collection	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	rhyme	gerund							vn amalgamate-22.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient

Option 4

A balanced discussion of opposing views

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 discussion	det
2	balanced	balanced	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 discussion	amod
3	discussion	discussion	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 views	case
5	opposing	oppose	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	6 views	amod
6	views	view	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 discussion	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	oppose	gerund							vn amalgamate-22.2-3 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient
2	discuss			opposing views					nom discussion «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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/44-writing-to-inform-instruct-and-persuade/e1/