Exam question 1 · Too many details, too few

Identify the principal reason for which an account of an ordinary afternoon recounted to the exact minute may arouse suspicion.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, account · What happens: identify, recount, arouse, account · To what, where: principal reason, ordinary afternoon, suspicion

This is exam question 1 of lesson 450 «Too many details, too few» 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	19 arouse	obl
7	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 account	det
8	account	account	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 arouse	nsubj
9	of	of	ADP	_	12 afternoon	case
10	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 afternoon	det
11	ordinary	ordinary	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 afternoon	amod
12	afternoon	afternoon	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 account	nmod
13	recounted	recount	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	12 afternoon	acl
14	to	to	ADP	_	17 minute	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 minute	det
16	exact	exact	ADJ	Degree=Pos	17 minute	amod
17	minute	minute	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 recounted	obl
18	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	19 arouse	aux
19	arouse	arouse	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 reason	acl:relcl
20	suspicion	suspicion	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 arouse	obj
21	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	when	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	recount speech: other	participle		a ordinary afternoon not said here	minute		vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent
3	arouse	may	a account of a ordinary afternoon	suspicion		for the principal reason	vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus suspicion=Experiencer
4	account			a ordinary afternoon			nom account «communication 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 right answer

Ordinary recollection seldom retains such precision, suggesting a prepared script

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Ordinary	ordinary	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 recollection	amod
2	recollection	recollection	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 retains	nsubj
3	seldom	seldom	ADV	_	4 retains	advmod
4	retains	retain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
5	such	such	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 precision	amod
6	precision	precision	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 retains	obj
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 suggesting	punct
8	suggesting	suggest	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	4 retains	advcl
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 script	det
10	prepared	prepared	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 script	amod
11	script	script	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 suggesting	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	retain	present	Ordinary recollection	such precision				seldom property	tree rules
2	suggest speech: suggest	gerund	Ordinary recollection not said here	a prepared script					vn say-37.7-1-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent script=Topic

Option 2

Precise accounts are invariably truthful, a liar being unable to invent so many particulars

The tree, 14 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Precise	precise	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 accounts	amod
2	accounts	account	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 truthful	nsubj
3	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 truthful	cop
4	invariably	invariably	ADV	_	5 truthful	advmod
5	truthful	truthful	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 unable	punct
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 liar	det
8	liar	liar	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 unable	nsubj
9	being	be	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	10 unable	cop
10	unable	unable	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 truthful	conj
11	to	to	PART	_	12 invent	mark
12	invent	invent	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	10 unable	xcomp
13	so	so	ADV	_	14 many	advmod
14	many	many	ADJ	Degree=Pos	15 particulars	amod
15	particulars	particular	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 invent	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	is	present	Precise accounts		invariably, truthful property	tree rules
2	is	gerund	a liar		unable property	tree rules
3	invent	to-infinitive	a liar not said here	many particulars		vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent particular=Result

Option 3

Precision is forbidden in conversation

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Precision	precision	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 forbidden	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 forbidden	aux:pass
3	forbidden	forbid	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	in	in	ADP	_	5 conversation	case
5	conversation	conversation	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 forbidden	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	forbid	present · passive		Precision		conversation			vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme

Option 4

Ordinary afternoons do not occur

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Ordinary	ordinary	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 afternoons	amod
2	afternoons	afternoon	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 occur	nsubj
3	do	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 occur	aux
4	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	5 occur	advmod
5	occur	occur	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	not occur	present · do-support	Ordinary afternoons						vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

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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