Exam question 1 · Neighbours who don't speak and the friendly shopkeeper

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the dispute between the two elderly neighbours, Mr Shaw and Mr Kowalski?

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris · To what, where: dispute

This is exam question 1 of lesson 483 «Neighbours who don't speak and the friendly shopkeeper» 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 dispute	det
10	dispute	dispute	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	between	between	ADP	_	15 neighbours	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 neighbours	det
13	two	two	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	15 neighbours	nummod
14	elderly	elderly	ADJ	Degree=Pos	15 neighbours	amod
15	neighbours	neighbour	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 dispute	nmod
16	,	,	PUNCT	_	18 Shaw	punct
17	Mr	Mr	PROPN	Number=Sing	18 Shaw	compound
18	Shaw	Shaw	PROPN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obl
19	and	and	CCONJ	_	20 Mr	cc
20	Mr	Mr	PROPN	Number=Sing	18 Shaw	conj
21	Kowalski	Kowalski	PROPN	Number=Sing	20 Mr	flat
22	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund							vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the dispute				of the following statements; between the two elderly neighbours; Mr Shaw and Mr obl; accurately 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

A legal action concerning the ownership of a dog

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 action	det
2	legal	legal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 action	amod
3	action	action	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	concerning	concern	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	3 action	acl
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 ownership	det
6	ownership	ownership	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 concerning	obj
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 dog	case
8	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 dog	det
9	dog	dog	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 ownership	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	concern	gerund	a legal action not said here	the ownership of a dog					vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus ownership=Experiencer

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice

A dispute concerning a sum of money owed by one to the other

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 dispute	det
2	dispute	dispute	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	concerning	concern	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	2 dispute	acl
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 sum	det
5	sum	sum	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 concerning	obj
6	of	of	ADP	_	7 money	case
7	money	money	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 sum	nmod
8	owed	owe	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	7 money	acl
9	by	by	ADP	_	10 one	case
10	one	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	8 owed	obl
11	to	to	ADP	_	13 other	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 other	det
13	other	other	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 one	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	concern	gerund	a dispute not said here	a sum of money		vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus sum=Experiencer
2	owe	participle		money not said here	by one to the other	vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent
3	sum			money		nom sum «possession transitive»: of=patient

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

A long silence of uncertain origin, concluded after a bereavement

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 silence	det
2	long	long	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 silence	amod
3	silence	silence	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 origin	case
5	uncertain	uncertain	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 origin	amod
6	origin	origin	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 silence	nmod
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 concluded	punct
8	concluded	conclude	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 silence	acl
9	after	after	ADP	_	11 bereavement	case
10	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 bereavement	det
11	bereavement	bereavement	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 concluded	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	conclude	participle		a long silence of uncertain origin not said here			after a bereavement		vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality
2	silence			uncertain origin					nom silence «state transitive»: of=patient

Option 4

A quarrel which persisted until the death of both

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 quarrel	det
2	quarrel	quarrel	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	4 persisted	nsubj
4	persisted	persist	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 quarrel	acl:relcl
5	until	until	ADP	_	7 death	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 death	det
7	death	death	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 persisted	obl
8	of	of	ADP	_	9 both	case
9	both	both	DET	PronType=Tot	7 death	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	persist	past	a quarrel				until the death of both		vn exist-47.1 «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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