Exam question 2 · The bulldog next door who never likes you

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the assertion that a dog which barks persistently will not bite?

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 2 · right ✓ · Who acts: dog · What happens: follow, characteris, bark, not bite · To what, where: assertion

This is exam question 2 of lesson 456 «The bulldog next door who never likes you» 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	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 assertion	det
10	assertion	assertion	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	that	that	SCONJ	_	19 bite	mark
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 dog	det
13	dog	dog	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 bite	nsubj
14	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	15 barks	nsubj
15	barks	bark	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	13 dog	acl:relcl
16	persistently	persistently	ADV	_	15 barks	advmod
17	will	will	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	19 bite	aux
18	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	19 bite	advmod
19	bite	bite	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	10 assertion	acl
20	?	?	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		the assertion	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	bark	present	a dog		persistently property	vn animal_sounds-38 «NP V»: agent=Agent
4	not bite	future	a dog	the assertion not said here		vn swat-18.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent assertion=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

It is true provided the dog is fed beforehand

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 true	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 true	cop
3	true	true	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
4	provided	provide	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 fed	mark
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 dog	det
6	dog	dog	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 fed	nsubj:pass
7	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	8 fed	aux:pass
8	fed	feed	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 true	advcl
9	beforehand	beforehand	ADV	_	8 fed	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	is	present	It		true property	tree rules
2	provide	participle				vn ensure-99 «NP V that S»: agent=Precondition
3	feed	present · passive		the dog	beforehand property	vn feeding-39.7 «NP V NP»: subject=Recipient

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

It is unreliable, since such dogs may also bite

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 unreliable	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 unreliable	cop
3	unreliable	unreliable	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
4	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 bite	punct
5	since	since	SCONJ	_	10 bite	mark
6	such	such	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 dogs	amod
7	dogs	dog	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 bite	nsubj
8	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	10 bite	aux
9	also	also	ADV	_	10 bite	advmod
10	bite	bite	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	3 unreliable	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	present	It					unreliable property	tree rules
2	bite	may	such dogs						vn swat-18.2 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent

Option 3

It applies to all breeds save bulldogs

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 applies	nsubj
2	applies	apply	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	to	to	SCONJ	_	6 save	mark
4	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	5 breeds	det
5	breeds	breed	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 save	nsubj
6	save	save	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 applies	advcl
7	bulldogs	bulldog	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 save	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	apply	present	It						vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
2	save	present	all breeds	bulldogs					vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bulldog=Theme

Option 4

It is a scientific law without exception

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 law	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 law	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 law	det
4	scientific	scientific	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 law	amod
5	law	law	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	without	without	ADP	_	7 exception	case
7	exception	exception	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 law	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a scientific law				without exception	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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