Exam question 2 · Self-defence or just stupid?

Identify the principal reason for which the pursuit of an assailant subsequent to an attack does not constitute self-defence.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, pursuit · What happens: identify, not constitute, pursue · To what, where: principal reason, self defence, assailant subsequent

This is exam question 2 of lesson 377 «Self-defence or just stupid?» 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	Identify	identify	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 reason	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 reason	amod
4	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
5	for	for	ADP	_	6 which	case
6	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	18 constitute	obl
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 pursuit	det
8	pursuit	pursuit	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 constitute	nsubj
9	of	of	ADP	_	12 subsequent	case
10	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 subsequent	det
11	assailant	assailant	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 subsequent	compound
12	subsequent	subsequent	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 pursuit	nmod
13	to	to	ADP	_	15 attack	case
14	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	15 attack	det
15	attack	attack	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 subsequent	nmod
16	does	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	18 constitute	aux
17	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	18 constitute	advmod
18	constitute	constitute	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 reason	acl:relcl
19	self	self	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 defence	compound
20	-	-	PUNCT	_	19 self	punct
21	defence	defence	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 constitute	obj
22	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	the principal reason		vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme
2	not constitute	present · do-support	the pursuit of a assailant subsequent to a attack	self defence	for the principal reason	vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme defence=Pivot
3	pursue			a assailant subsequent to a attack		nom pursuit «act 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 pursuer is invariably smaller than the assailant and therefore requires protection

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 pursuer	det
2	pursuer	pursuer	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 smaller	nsubj
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 smaller	cop
4	invariably	invariably	ADV	_	5 smaller	advmod
5	smaller	small	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	root	root
6	than	than	ADP	_	8 assailant	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 assailant	det
8	assailant	assailant	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 smaller	obl
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 requires	cc
10	therefore	therefore	ADV	_	11 requires	advmod
11	requires	require	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 smaller	conj
12	protection	protection	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 requires	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	present	the pursuer					than the assailant; invariably, small property	tree rules
2	require	present	the pursuer not said here	protection				therefore property	vn require-103-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme protection=Precondition

Option 2

The assailant must first be warned in writing

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 assailant	det
2	assailant	assailant	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 warned	nsubj:pass
3	must	must	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	6 warned	aux
4	first	first	ADV	NumForm=Word NumType=Ord	6 warned	advmod
5	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	6 warned	aux:pass
6	warned	warn	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
7	in	in	ADP	_	8 writing	case
8	writing	writing	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 warned	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	warn speech: warn	must · passive		the assailant		writing		first property	vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

The danger has ceased, whereupon the act becomes retaliation

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 danger	det
2	danger	danger	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 ceased	nsubj:pass
3	has	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 ceased	aux
4	ceased	cease	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 becomes	punct
6	whereupon	whereupon	ADV	PronType=Int	9 becomes	advmod
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 act	det
8	act	act	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 becomes	nsubj
9	becomes	become	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 ceased	conj
10	retaliation	retaliation	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 becomes	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	cease	present · perfect · passive		the danger					vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: subject=Eventuality
2	become	present	the act	retaliation				whereupon property	vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient

Option 4

Pursuit is permitted only on school premises

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Pursuit	Pursuit	PROPN	Number=Sing	3 permitted	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 permitted	aux:pass
3	permitted	permit	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	only	only	ADV	_	7 premises	advmod
5	on	on	ADP	_	7 premises	case
6	school	school	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 premises	compound
7	premises	premise	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 permitted	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	permit	present · passive		Pursuit		school premises			vn admit-64.3-1 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Theme on premise=Location

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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