Exam question 4 · The magician's trick explained
Determine which of the following does NOT constitute a sound inference concerning a video depicting a person floating unsupported.
Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 1 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, sound inference, video, person · What happens: determine, follow, not constitute, concern, depict, float · To what, where: sound inference, video, person
This is exam question 4 of lesson 448 «The magician's trick explained» 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 | Determine | determine | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 2 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 8 constitute | nsubj |
| 3 | of | of | SCONJ | _ | 8 constitute | mark |
| 4 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 8 constitute | det |
| 5 | following | follow | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 8 constitute | nsubj |
| 6 | does | do | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 8 constitute | aux |
| 7 | NOT | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 8 constitute | advmod |
| 8 | constitute | constitute | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 1 Determine | ccomp |
| 9 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 11 inference | det |
| 10 | sound | sound | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 inference | compound |
| 11 | inference | inference | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 constitute | obj |
| 12 | concerning | concern | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 11 inference | acl |
| 13 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 14 video | det |
| 14 | video | video | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 concerning | obj |
| 15 | depicting | depict | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 14 video | acl |
| 16 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 17 person | det |
| 17 | person | person | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 depicting | obj |
| 18 | floating | float | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 17 person | acl |
| 19 | unsupported | unsupported | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 18 floating | xcomp |
| 20 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 1 Determine | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | determine | imperative | you not said here | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 2 | follow | gerund | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||||
| 3 | not constitute | present · do-support | a sound inference | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme inference=Pivot | |||||
| 4 | concern | gerund | a sound inference not said here | a video | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus video=Experiencer | ||||
| 5 | depict | gerund | a video not said here | a person | vn characterize-29.2 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent person=Theme | ||||
| 6 | float | gerund | a person not said here | unsupported property | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
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 · ✓ the right answer
That the video proves the person can float
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | That | that | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 3 video | det |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 video | det |
| 3 | video | video | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 proves | nsubj |
| 4 | proves | prove | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 5 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 6 person | det |
| 6 | person | person | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 float | nsubj |
| 7 | can | can | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 8 float | aux |
| 8 | float | float | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 4 proves | ccomp |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | prove | present | that video | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | |||||
| 2 | float | can | the person | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
Option 2
That a support may be concealed from the camera
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | That | that | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 3 support | det |
| 2 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 support | det |
| 3 | support | support | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 concealed | nsubj:pass |
| 4 | may | may | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 6 concealed | aux |
| 5 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 6 concealed | aux:pass |
| 6 | concealed | conceal | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 7 | from | from | ADP | _ | 9 camera | case |
| 8 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 9 camera | det |
| 9 | camera | camera | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 concealed | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | conceal | may · passive | that support | the camera | vn concealment-16 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: subject=Patient from camera=Beneficiary |
Option 3 · ← Mova's choice
That the video may have been edited
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | That | that | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 3 video | det |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 video | det |
| 3 | video | video | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 edited | nsubj:pass |
| 4 | may | may | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 7 edited | aux |
| 5 | have | have | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 7 edited | aux |
| 6 | been | be | AUX | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 7 edited | aux:pass |
| 7 | edited | edit | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | edit | may · perfect · passive | that video | tree rules |
Option 4
That a single camera angle may conceal the method
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | That | that | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 5 angle | det |
| 2 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 4 camera | det |
| 3 | single | single | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 4 camera | amod |
| 4 | camera | camera | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 angle | compound |
| 5 | angle | angle | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 conceal | nsubj |
| 6 | may | may | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 7 conceal | aux |
| 7 | conceal | conceal | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | root | root |
| 8 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 9 method | det |
| 9 | method | method | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 conceal | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | conceal | may | that camera angle | the method | vn concealment-16 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent method=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.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/448-the-magicians-trick-explained/e4/