Exam question 1 · Handwriting: holding the pencil and joining up

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the tripod grip?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris · To what, where: tripod grip

This is exam question 1 of lesson 5 «Handwriting: holding the pencil and joining up» 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	11 grip	det
10	tripod	tripod	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 grip	compound
11	grip	grip	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
12	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund							vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the tripod grip				of the following statements; accurately property	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 pencil is held between the third and fourth fingers

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 pencil	det
2	pencil	pencil	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 held	nsubj:pass
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 held	aux:pass
4	held	hold	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	between	between	ADP	_	10 fingers	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 fingers	det
7	third	third	ADJ	Degree=Pos NumForm=Word NumType=Ord	10 fingers	amod
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 fourth	cc
9	fourth	fourth	ADJ	Degree=Pos NumForm=Word NumType=Ord	7 third	conj
10	fingers	finger	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 held	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	hold	present · passive		the pencil		the third fingers			vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Theme between finger=Location

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

The pencil is held between the thumb and forefinger and supported by the middle finger

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 pencil	det
2	pencil	pencil	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 held	nsubj:pass
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 held	aux:pass
4	held	hold	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	between	between	ADP	_	7 thumb	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 thumb	det
7	thumb	thumb	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 held	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 forefinger	cc
9	forefinger	forefinger	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 thumb	conj
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 supported	cc
11	supported	support	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 held	conj
12	by	by	ADP	_	15 finger	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 finger	det
14	middle	middle	ADJ	Degree=Pos	15 finger	amod
15	finger	finger	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 supported	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	hold	present · passive		the pencil		the thumb and forefinger			vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Theme between thumb=Location
2	support	participle						by the middle finger	vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer

Option 3

The pencil is grasped firmly in the closed fist and propelled across the page by the muscles of the arm and shoulder

The tree, 22 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 pencil	det
2	pencil	pencil	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 grasped	nsubj:pass
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 grasped	aux:pass
4	grasped	grasp	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	firmly	firmly	ADV	_	4 grasped	advmod
6	in	in	ADP	_	9 fist	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 fist	det
8	closed	close	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	9 fist	amod
9	fist	fist	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 grasped	obl
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 propelled	cc
11	propelled	propel	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 grasped	conj
12	across	across	ADP	_	14 page	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 page	det
14	page	page	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 propelled	obl
15	by	by	ADP	_	17 muscles	case
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 muscles	det
17	muscles	muscle	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 propelled	obl
18	of	of	ADP	_	20 arm	case
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 arm	det
20	arm	arm	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 muscles	nmod
21	and	and	CCONJ	_	22 shoulder	cc
22	shoulder	shoulder	NOUN	Number=Sing	20 arm	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	grasp	present · passive	the pencil	the closed fist	firmly property	vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Stimulus
2	close	participle				vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient
3	propel	participle		the page	by the muscles of the arm and shoulder	tree rules

Option 4

The pencil is balanced upon the palm and guided by the wrist

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 pencil	det
2	pencil	pencil	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 balanced	nsubj:pass
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 balanced	aux:pass
4	balanced	balance	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	upon	upon	ADP	_	7 palm	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 palm	det
7	palm	palm	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 balanced	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 guided	cc
9	guided	guide	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 balanced	conj
10	by	by	ADP	_	12 wrist	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 wrist	det
12	wrist	wrist	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 guided	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	balance	present · passive		the pencil		the palm			vn spatial_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V NP.theme PP»: subject=Theme upon palm=Location
2	guide	participle						by the wrist	vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent by wrist=Destination

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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