Exam question 2 · Soft words for hard things: money and poverty
It is given that a municipal authority is described as "cash-strapped". Identify the principal meaning of this description.
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: you · What happens: give, describe, strap, identify, mean · To what, where: It, municipal authority, principal meaning, description · Speech: someone speaks here
This is exam question 2 of lesson 19 «Soft words for hard things: money and poverty» of the euphemisms 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
Sentence 1: It is given that a municipal authority is described as "cash-strapped".
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 given | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 given | aux:pass |
| 3 | given | give | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 4 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 9 described | mark |
| 5 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 7 authority | det |
| 6 | municipal | municipal | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 7 authority | amod |
| 7 | authority | authority | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 described | nsubj:pass |
| 8 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 9 described | aux:pass |
| 9 | described | describe | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 3 given | advcl |
| 10 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 14 strapped | mark |
| 11 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 14 strapped | punct |
| 12 | cash | cash | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 strapped | compound |
| 13 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 12 cash | punct |
| 14 | strapped | strap | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 9 described | ccomp |
| 15 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 14 strapped | punct |
| 16 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 3 given | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | give | present · passive | It | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | |||||
| 2 | describe | present · passive | a municipal authority | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP to be ADJ»: subject=Theme clause=Attribute | |||||
| 3 | strap in a quote | participle | vn tape-22.4 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=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.
Sentence 2: Identify the principal meaning of this description.
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 meaning | det |
| 3 | principal | principal | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 4 meaning | amod |
| 4 | meaning | meaning | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Identify | obj |
| 5 | of | of | ADP | _ | 7 description | case |
| 6 | this | this | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 7 description | det |
| 7 | description | description | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 meaning | 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 meaning of this description | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent meaning=Theme | ||||
| 2 | mean | this description | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient |
The options
Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer
The authority has insufficient funds
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 authority | det |
| 2 | authority | authority | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 has | nsubj |
| 3 | has | have | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | insufficient | insufficient | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 5 funds | amod |
| 5 | funds | fund | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 has | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | have | present | the authority | insufficient funds | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fund=Patient |
Option 2
The authority has recently received payment
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 authority | det |
| 2 | authority | authority | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 received | nsubj:pass |
| 3 | has | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 5 received | aux |
| 4 | recently | recently | ADV | _ | 5 received | advmod |
| 5 | received | receive | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 6 | payment | payment | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 received | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | receive | present · perfect · passive | the authority | recently property | vn admit-64.3-1 «NP V NP ADV»: subject=Theme payment=Location |
Option 3
The authority accepts payment in cash only
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 authority | det |
| 2 | authority | authority | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 accepts | nsubj |
| 3 | accepts | accept | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | payment | payment | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 accepts | obj |
| 5 | in | in | ADP | _ | 6 cash | case |
| 6 | cash | cash | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 payment | nmod |
| 7 | only | only | ADV | _ | 3 accepts | advmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | accept | present | the authority | payment | cash | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent payment=Theme |
Option 4
The authority retains its funds in a secured box
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 authority | det |
| 2 | authority | authority | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 retains | nsubj |
| 3 | retains | retain | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | its | its | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 5 funds | nmod:poss |
| 5 | funds | fund | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 retains | obj |
| 6 | in | in | ADP | _ | 9 box | case |
| 7 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 9 box | det |
| 8 | secured | secure | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 9 box | amod |
| 9 | box | box | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 retains | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | retain | present | the authority | authority's funds | a secured box | tree rules | |||
| 2 | secure | participle | vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient | ||||||
| 3 | fund | authority | nom fund «possession transitive»: poss=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/euphemisms/19-money-and-poverty/e2/