Test 4 · ★★ · Telling when someone may be lying
A boy is nervous in a polygraph test and the machine says «lying». Why might it be wrong?
Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · Who acts: boy, machine, test · What happens: be, say, lie · To what, where: polygraph test · Speech: someone speaks here
This is test 4 · ★★ of lesson 198 «Telling when someone may be lying» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school. 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: A boy is nervous in a polygraph test and the machine says «lying».
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 2 boy | det |
| 2 | boy | boy | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 nervous | nsubj |
| 3 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 nervous | cop |
| 4 | nervous | nervous | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 5 | in | in | ADP | _ | 8 test | case |
| 6 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 8 test | det |
| 7 | polygraph | polygraph | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 test | compound |
| 8 | test | test | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 nervous | obl |
| 9 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 12 says | cc |
| 10 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 11 machine | det |
| 11 | machine | machine | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 says | nsubj |
| 12 | says | say | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 nervous | conj |
| 13 | « | « | PUNCT | _ | 14 lying | punct |
| 14 | lying | lie | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 12 says | ccomp |
| 15 | » | » | PUNCT | _ | 14 lying | punct |
| 16 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 4 nervous | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | present | a boy | a polygraph test | nervous property | tree rules | |||
| 2 | say speech: assert | present | the machine | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 3 | lie in a quote | gerund | vn assuming_position-50 «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: Why might it be wrong?
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Why | why | ADV | PronType=Int | 5 wrong | advmod |
| 2 | might | might | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 5 wrong | aux |
| 3 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 5 wrong | nsubj |
| 4 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 5 wrong | cop |
| 5 | wrong | wrong | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 6 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 5 wrong | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | might | test | wrong property | tree rules |
The options
Option 1
The machine was switched off during the test
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 machine | det |
| 2 | machine | machine | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 switched | nsubj:pass |
| 3 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 switched | aux:pass |
| 4 | switched | switch | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 5 | off | off | ADP | _ | 4 switched | compound:prt |
| 6 | during | during | ADP | _ | 8 test | case |
| 7 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 8 test | det |
| 8 | test | test | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 switched | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | switch off | past · passive | the machine | during the test | vn convert-26.6.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
Option 2
Machines are always right, so it cannot be wrong
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Machines | machine | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 right | nsubj |
| 2 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 right | cop |
| 3 | always | always | ADV | PronType=Tot | 4 right | advmod |
| 4 | right | right | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 5 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 11 wrong | punct |
| 6 | so | so | ADV | _ | 11 wrong | advmod |
| 7 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 11 wrong | nsubj |
| 8 | can | can | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 11 wrong | aux |
| 9 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 11 wrong | advmod |
| 10 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 11 wrong | cop |
| 11 | wrong | wrong | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 4 right | conj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | present | Machines | always, right property | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | not is | can | it | wrong property | tree rules |
Option 3
Polygraphs only work on very small children
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Polygraphs | polygraph | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 work | nsubj |
| 2 | only | only | ADV | _ | 3 work | advmod |
| 3 | work | work | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | on | on | ADP | _ | 7 children | case |
| 5 | very | very | ADV | _ | 6 small | advmod |
| 6 | small | small | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 7 children | amod |
| 7 | children | child | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 work | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | work | present | Polygraphs | on small children | vn employment-95.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent on child=Theme |
Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer
Honest people get nervous too, and the machine measures nerves
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Honest | honest | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 2 people | amod |
| 2 | people | people | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 get | nsubj |
| 3 | get | get | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | nervous | nervous | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 get | xcomp |
| 5 | too | too | ADV | _ | 3 get | advmod |
| 6 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 10 measures | punct |
| 7 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 10 measures | cc |
| 8 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 9 machine | det |
| 9 | machine | machine | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 measures | nsubj |
| 10 | measures | measure | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 get | conj |
| 11 | nerves | nerve | NOUN | Number=Plur | 10 measures | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | get | present | Honest people | nervous property | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Experiencer | ||||
| 2 | measure | present | the machine | nerves | vn register-54.1-2-1 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme nerve=Value |
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/198-telling-when-someone-may-be-lying/t4/