Exam question 1 · Facts, opinions, clickbait and saying no to dares

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the distinction between a fact and an opinion?

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 3 · right ✓ · What happens: follow, characteris · To what, where: distinction

This is exam question 1 of lesson 284 «Facts, opinions, clickbait and saying no to dares» 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

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	10 distinction	det
10	distinction	distinction	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	between	between	ADP	_	13 fact	case
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 fact	det
13	fact	fact	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 distinction	nmod
14	and	and	CCONJ	_	16 opinion	cc
15	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	16 opinion	det
16	opinion	opinion	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 fact	conj
17	?	?	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 distinction				of the following statements; between a fact and a opinion; 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

An opinion may be proven by repetition

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	An	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 opinion	det
2	opinion	opinion	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 proven	nsubj:pass
3	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	5 proven	aux
4	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	5 proven	aux:pass
5	proven	prove	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	by	by	ADP	_	7 repetition	case
7	repetition	repetition	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 proven	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	prove	may · passive	repetition	a opinion					vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme

Option 2

An opinion becomes a fact when widely shared

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	An	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 opinion	det
2	opinion	opinion	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 becomes	nsubj
3	becomes	become	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 fact	det
5	fact	fact	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 becomes	xcomp
6	when	when	ADV	PronType=Int	8 shared	advmod
7	widely	widely	ADV	_	8 shared	advmod
8	shared	share	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 becomes	advcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	become	present	a opinion	a fact					vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient
2	share	participle	a opinion not said here					widely property	tree rules

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

A fact may be verified, whereas an opinion expresses what someone thinks

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 fact	det
2	fact	fact	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 verified	nsubj:pass
3	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	5 verified	aux
4	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	5 verified	aux:pass
5	verified	verify	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 expresses	punct
7	whereas	whereas	SCONJ	_	10 expresses	mark
8	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 opinion	det
9	opinion	opinion	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 expresses	nsubj
10	expresses	express	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 verified	conj
11	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	13 thinks	obj
12	someone	someone	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Ind	13 thinks	nsubj
13	thinks	think	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 expresses	ccomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	verify	may · passive		a fact	vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic
2	express	present	a opinion		tree rules
3	think speech: other	present	someone		vn wish-62 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot what=Theme

Option 4

A fact is any statement that has been printed in a newspaper

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 fact	det
2	fact	fact	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 statement	nsubj
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 statement	cop
4	any	any	DET	PronType=Ind	5 statement	det
5	statement	statement	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	9 printed	nsubj:pass
7	has	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	9 printed	aux
8	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	9 printed	aux:pass
9	printed	print	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 statement	acl:relcl
10	in	in	ADP	_	12 newspaper	case
11	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 newspaper	det
12	newspaper	newspaper	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 printed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	a fact	any statement					tree rules
2	print	present · perfect · passive		any statement		a newspaper			vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme in newspaper=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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