Exam question 1 · Soft words for hard things: drinking and drugs and religio…
Pursuant to the insurer's correspondence, the destruction of the dwelling is attributed to "an act of God". Identify the meaning of this expression.
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: insurer, God, you · What happens: attribute, correspond, destroy, act, identify, mean · To what, where: correspondence, dwelling, meaning, expression
This is exam question 1 of lesson 31 «Soft words for hard things: drinking and drugs and religion and fate» 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: Pursuant to the insurer's correspondence, the destruction of the dwelling is attributed to "an act of God".
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pursuant | pursuant | ADV | _ | 6 correspondence | advmod |
| 2 | to | to | ADP | _ | 6 correspondence | case |
| 3 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 4 insurer | det |
| 4 | insurer | insurer | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 correspondence | nmod:poss |
| 5 | 's | 's | PART | _ | 4 insurer | case |
| 6 | correspondence | correspondence | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 attributed | nsubj:pass |
| 7 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 6 correspondence | punct |
| 8 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 9 destruction | det |
| 9 | destruction | destruction | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 attributed | nsubj:pass |
| 10 | of | of | ADP | _ | 12 dwelling | case |
| 11 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 12 dwelling | det |
| 12 | dwelling | dwelling | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 destruction | nmod |
| 13 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 14 attributed | aux:pass |
| 14 | attributed | attribute | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 15 | to | to | PART | _ | 18 act | mark |
| 16 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 18 act | punct |
| 17 | an | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 18 act | det |
| 18 | act | act | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 attributed | xcomp |
| 19 | of | of | ADP | _ | 20 God | case |
| 20 | God | God | PROPN | Number=Sing | 18 act | nmod |
| 21 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 18 act | punct |
| 22 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 14 attributed | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | attribute | present · passive | the insurer's correspondence | tree rules | |||||
| 2 | correspond | the insurer | nom correspondence «communication intransitive»: poss=agent | ||||||
| 3 | destroy | the dwelling | nom destruction «act transitive»: of=patient | ||||||
| 4 | act in a quote | God | nom act «communication intransitive»: of=agent |
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 meaning of this expression.
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 | 3 meaning | det |
| 3 | meaning | meaning | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Identify | obj |
| 4 | of | of | ADP | _ | 6 expression | case |
| 5 | this | this | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 6 expression | det |
| 6 | expression | expression | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 meaning | nmod |
| 7 | . | . | 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 meaning of this expression | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent meaning=Theme | ||||
| 2 | mean | this expression | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient |
The options
Option 1 · ← Mova's choice
An act of vandalism committed by persons unknown
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | An | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 2 act | det |
| 2 | act | act | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 unknown | nsubj |
| 3 | of | of | ADP | _ | 4 vandalism | case |
| 4 | vandalism | vandalism | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 act | nmod |
| 5 | committed | commit | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 2 act | acl |
| 6 | by | by | ADP | _ | 7 persons | case |
| 7 | persons | person | NOUN | Number=Plur | 5 committed | obl |
| 8 | unknown | unknown | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | commit | participle | a act of vandalism not said here | by persons | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 2 | act | vandalism | nom act «communication intransitive»: of=agent |
Option 2
A deliberate act committed by a member of the clergy
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 act | det |
| 2 | deliberate | deliberate | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 act | amod |
| 3 | act | act | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 4 | committed | commit | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 3 act | acl |
| 5 | by | by | ADP | _ | 7 member | case |
| 6 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 7 member | det |
| 7 | member | member | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 committed | obl:agent |
| 8 | of | of | ADP | _ | 10 clergy | case |
| 9 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 10 clergy | det |
| 10 | clergy | clergy | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 member | nmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | commit | participle | a deliberate act not said here | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
Option 3 · ✓ the right answer
A natural disaster for which no person can be held liable
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 disaster | det |
| 2 | natural | natural | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 disaster | amod |
| 3 | disaster | disaster | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 held | nsubj:pass |
| 4 | for | for | ADP | _ | 7 person | case |
| 5 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 7 person | nsubj |
| 6 | no | no | DET | PronType=Neg | 7 person | det |
| 7 | person | person | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 disaster | nmod |
| 8 | can | can | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 10 held | aux |
| 9 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 10 held | aux:pass |
| 10 | held | hold | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 11 | liable | liable | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 10 held | xcomp |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | hold | can · passive | a natural disaster for no person | liable property | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
Option 4
A miraculous event resulting in the preservation of property
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 event | det |
| 2 | miraculous | miraculous | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 event | amod |
| 3 | event | event | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 4 | resulting | result | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 3 event | acl |
| 5 | in | in | ADP | _ | 7 preservation | case |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 preservation | det |
| 7 | preservation | preservation | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 resulting | obl |
| 8 | of | of | ADP | _ | 9 property | case |
| 9 | property | property | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 preservation | nmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | result | gerund | a miraculous event not said here | the preservation of property | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in preservation=Location | ||||
| 2 | preserve | property | nom preservation «act 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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