Exam question 2 · Lies that grow: one lie needs three more

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an account which alters upon each successive enquiry?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: account · What happens: follow, characteris, alter · To what, where: account

This is exam question 2 of lesson 430 «Lies that grow: one lie needs three more» 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	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 account	det
10	account	account	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	12 alters	nsubj
12	alters	alter	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 account	acl:relcl
13	upon	upon	ADP	_	16 enquiry	case
14	each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	16 enquiry	det
15	successive	successive	ADJ	Degree=Pos	16 enquiry	amod
16	enquiry	enquiry	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 alters	obl
17	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		a account	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	alter	present	a account		upon each successive enquiry	vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=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

It indicates superior memory on the part of the speaker

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	2 indicates	nsubj
2	indicates	indicate	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	superior	superior	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 memory	amod
4	memory	memory	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 indicates	obj
5	on	on	ADP	_	7 part	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 part	det
7	part	part	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 indicates	obl
8	of	of	ADP	_	10 speaker	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 speaker	det
10	speaker	speaker	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 part	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	indicate	present	It	superior memory		the part of the speaker			vn indicate-78-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot memory=Topic

Option 2

It is of no evidential significance

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	6 significance	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 significance	cop
3	of	of	ADP	_	6 significance	case
4	no	no	DET	PronType=Neg	6 significance	det
5	evidential	evidential	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 significance	amod
6	significance	significance	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	present	It					of no evidential significance	tree rules

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

It is a principal indication that the account is false

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	5 indication	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 indication	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 indication	det
4	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 indication	amod
5	indication	indication	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	that	that	SCONJ	_	10 false	mark
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 account	det
8	account	account	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 false	nsubj
9	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 false	cop
10	false	false	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 indication	advcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a principal indication					tree rules
2	is	present	the account					false property	tree rules

Option 4

It is a principal indication that the account is true

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	5 indication	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 indication	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 indication	det
4	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 indication	amod
5	indication	indication	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	that	that	SCONJ	_	10 true	mark
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 account	det
8	account	account	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 true	nsubj
9	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 true	cop
10	true	true	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 indication	advcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a principal indication					tree rules
2	is	present	the account					true 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.

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