Exam question 3 · Politicians and promises, as the news reports them

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an electoral promise that was subsequently not fulfilled?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris, not fulfil · To what, where: electoral promise

This is exam question 3 of lesson 442 «Politicians and promises, as the news reports them» 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	11 promise	det
10	electoral	electoral	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 promise	amod
11	promise	promise	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
12	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	16 fulfilled	nsubj:pass
13	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	16 fulfilled	aux:pass
14	subsequently	subsequently	ADV	_	16 fulfilled	advmod
15	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	16 fulfilled	advmod
16	fulfilled	fulfil	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	11 promise	acl:relcl
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	a electoral promise	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	not fulfil	past · passive	a electoral promise	subsequently 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 · ← Mova's choice

It invariably represents a deliberate falsehood, the politician having known from the outset that it could not be kept

The tree, 19 words

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	3 represents	nsubj
2	invariably	invariably	ADV	_	3 represents	advmod
3	represents	represent	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 falsehood	det
5	deliberate	deliberate	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 falsehood	amod
6	falsehood	falsehood	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 represents	obj
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 politician	punct
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 politician	det
9	politician	politician	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 falsehood	appos
10	having	have	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	9 politician	acl
11	known	know	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	10 having	xcomp
12	from	from	ADP	_	14 outset	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 outset	det
14	outset	outset	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 having	obl
15	that	that	SCONJ	_	20 kept	mark
16	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	20 kept	nsubj:pass
17	could	could	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	20 kept	aux
18	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	20 kept	advmod
19	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	20 kept	aux:pass
20	kept	keep	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	10 having	advcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	represent	present	It	a deliberate falsehood		invariably property	vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot falsehood=Theme
2	have	gerund	the politician not said here		the outset		tree rules
3	know	participle	the politician not said here				vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer
4	not keep	could · passive		falsehood			vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme

Option 2

It invariably represents an honest failure

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	3 represents	nsubj
2	invariably	invariably	ADV	_	3 represents	advmod
3	represents	represent	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 failure	det
5	honest	honest	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 failure	amod
6	failure	failure	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 represents	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	represent	present	It	a honest failure				invariably property	vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot failure=Theme

Option 3

It is not a matter that can be examined

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 matter	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 matter	cop
3	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	5 matter	advmod
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 matter	det
5	matter	matter	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	9 examined	obj
7	can	can	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	9 examined	aux
8	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	9 examined	aux:pass
9	examined	examine	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 matter	acl:relcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	not is a	present	It	a matter					tree rules
2	examine	can · passive		a matter					vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: that=Theme

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

It may represent a deliberate falsehood or a plan that failed, and the matter is frequently disputed

The tree, 17 words

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	3 represent	nsubj
2	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	3 represent	aux
3	represent	represent	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 falsehood	det
5	deliberate	deliberate	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 falsehood	amod
6	falsehood	falsehood	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 represent	obj
7	or	or	CCONJ	_	9 plan	cc
8	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 plan	det
9	plan	plan	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 falsehood	conj
10	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	11 failed	nsubj
11	failed	fail	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	9 plan	acl:relcl
12	,	,	PUNCT	_	18 disputed	punct
13	and	and	CCONJ	_	18 disputed	cc
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 matter	det
15	matter	matter	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 disputed	nsubj:pass
16	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	18 disputed	aux:pass
17	frequently	frequently	ADV	_	18 disputed	advmod
18	disputed	dispute	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 represent	parataxis

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	represent	may	It	a deliberate falsehood or a plan		vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot falsehood=Theme
2	fail	past	a plan			vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	dispute	present · passive		the matter	frequently 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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