Exam question 3 · Putting the blame on someone else

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the proper allocation of the cost of damage?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris, allocate, cost · To what, where: proper allocation, cost, damage

This is exam question 3 of lesson 344 «Putting the blame on someone else» 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	11 allocation	det
10	proper	proper	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 allocation	amod
11	allocation	allocation	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
12	of	of	ADP	_	14 cost	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 cost	det
14	cost	cost	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 allocation	nmod
15	of	of	ADP	_	16 damage	case
16	damage	damage	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 cost	nmod
17	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund			vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present	the proper allocation of the cost of damage	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	allocate		the cost of damage		nom allocation «possession transitive»: of=patient
4	cost		damage		nom cost «possession transitive»: of=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.

The options

Option 1 · ← Mova's choice

The cost ought to be divided among all who were present

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 cost	det
2	cost	cost	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 divided	nsubj:pass
3	ought	ought	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	6 divided	aux
4	to	to	PART	_	6 divided	mark
5	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	6 divided	aux:pass
6	divided	divide	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
7	among	among	ADP	_	8 all	case
8	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	6 divided	obl
9	who	who	PRON	PronType=Rel	11 present	nsubj
10	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	11 present	cop
11	present	present	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 all	acl:relcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	divide	ought · passive		the cost				among all	vn multiply-108-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	is	past						present property	tree rules

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

The cost ought to be borne by the person responsible, irrespective of the means of others

The tree, 16 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 cost	det
2	cost	cost	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 borne	nsubj:pass
3	ought	ought	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	6 borne	aux
4	to	to	PART	_	6 borne	mark
5	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	6 borne	aux:pass
6	borne	bear	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	15 means	nsubj
7	by	by	ADP	_	9 person	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 person	det
9	person	person	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 borne	obl
10	responsible	responsible	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 borne	xcomp
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 means	punct
12	irrespective	irrespective	ADV	ExtPos=ADV	15 means	advmod
13	of	of	ADP	_	12 irrespective	fixed
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 means	nsubj
15	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
16	of	of	ADP	_	17 others	case
17	others	other	NOUN	Number=Plur	15 means	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	bear	ought · passive	the person	the cost				responsible property	vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient
2	mean	present						of others; irrespective property	vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent

Option 3

The cost ought to be borne by the school in every case

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 cost	det
2	cost	cost	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 borne	nsubj:pass
3	ought	ought	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	6 borne	aux
4	to	to	PART	_	6 borne	mark
5	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	6 borne	aux:pass
6	borne	bear	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
7	by	by	ADP	_	9 school	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 school	det
9	school	school	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 borne	obl
10	in	in	ADP	_	12 case	case
11	every	every	DET	PronType=Tot	12 case	det
12	case	case	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 borne	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	bear	ought · passive	the school	the cost		every case			vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient

Option 4

The cost ought to be borne by the wealthiest family

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 cost	det
2	cost	cost	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 borne	nsubj:pass
3	ought	ought	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	6 borne	aux
4	to	to	PART	_	6 borne	mark
5	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	6 borne	aux:pass
6	borne	bear	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
7	by	by	ADP	_	10 family	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 family	det
9	wealthiest	wealthy	ADJ	Degree=Sup	10 family	amod
10	family	family	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 borne	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	bear	ought · passive	the wealthiest family	the cost					vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=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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