Exam question 3 · White lies and kind silence
It is given that a friend will sing at a talent show and asks for an opinion. Determine the most suitable answer.
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: friend, you · What happens: give, sing, ask, determine · To what, where: It, talent show, suitable answer
This is exam question 3 of lesson 196 «White lies and kind silence» of the everyday 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 friend will sing at a talent show and asks for an opinion.
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 | _ | 8 sing | mark |
| 5 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 6 friend | det |
| 6 | friend | friend | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 sing | nsubj |
| 7 | will | will | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 8 sing | aux |
| 8 | sing | sing | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 3 given | advcl |
| 9 | at | at | ADP | _ | 12 show | case |
| 10 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 12 show | det |
| 11 | talent | talent | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 show | compound |
| 12 | show | show | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 sing | obl |
| 13 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 14 asks | cc |
| 14 | asks | ask | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 8 sing | conj |
| 15 | for | for | ADP | _ | 17 opinion | case |
| 16 | an | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 17 opinion | det |
| 17 | opinion | opinion | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 asks | obl |
| 18 | . | . | 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 | sing speech: express | future | a friend | a talent show | vn sound_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at show=Location | ||||
| 3 | ask speech: ask | present | a friend not said here | for a opinion | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=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: Determine the most suitable answer.
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Determine | determine | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 5 answer | det |
| 3 | most | most | ADV | Degree=Sup | 4 suitable | advmod |
| 4 | suitable | suitable | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 5 answer | amod |
| 5 | answer | answer | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Determine | obj |
| 6 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 1 Determine | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | determine | imperative | you not said here | the suitable answer | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent answer=Topic |
The options
Option 1 · ← Mova's choice
A refusal to say anything whatsoever
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 2 refusal | det |
| 2 | refusal | refusal | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 3 | to | to | PART | _ | 4 say | mark |
| 4 | say | say | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 2 refusal | acl |
| 5 | anything | anything | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Ind | 4 say | obj |
| 6 | whatsoever | whatsoever | ADV | _ | 4 say | advmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | say speech: assert | to-infinitive | anything | whatsoever property | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent anything=Topic |
Option 2
A blunt remark that it is the worst
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 remark | det |
| 2 | blunt | blunt | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 remark | amod |
| 3 | remark | remark | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 worst | nsubj |
| 4 | that | that | ADP | _ | 5 it | case |
| 5 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 3 remark | nmod |
| 6 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 8 worst | cop |
| 7 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 8 worst | det |
| 8 | worst | bad | ADJ | Degree=Sup | root | root |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | present | a blunt remark that it | bad property | tree rules |
Option 3 · ✓ the right answer
A gentle, true tip that helps them improve
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 5 tip | det |
| 2 | gentle | gentle | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 5 tip | amod |
| 3 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 2 gentle | punct |
| 4 | true | true | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 5 tip | amod |
| 5 | tip | tip | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 6 | that | that | PRON | PronType=Rel | 7 helps | nsubj |
| 7 | helps | help | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 5 tip | acl:relcl |
| 8 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 7 helps | obj |
| 9 | improve | improve | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 7 helps | xcomp |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | help | present | a gentle true tip | them = they | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Agent they=Beneficiary clause=Theme | ||||
| 2 | improve | infinitive | them = they not said here | vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
Option 4
A false assurance that it is perfect
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 assurance | det |
| 2 | false | false | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 assurance | amod |
| 3 | assurance | assurance | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 perfect | nsubj |
| 4 | that | that | ADP | _ | 5 it | case |
| 5 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 3 assurance | nmod |
| 6 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 7 perfect | cop |
| 7 | perfect | perfect | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | present | a false assurance that it | perfect property | tree rules |
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/everyday/196-white-lies-and-kind-silence/e3/