Exam question 1 · The only child: a quiet house

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the proposition that only children are invariably spoilt?

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

This is exam question 1 of lesson 498 «The only child: a quiet house» 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 proposition	det
10	proposition	proposition	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	16 spoilt	obj
12	only	only	ADV	_	13 children	advmod
13	children	child	NOUN	Number=Plur	16 spoilt	nsubj:pass
14	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	16 spoilt	aux:pass
15	invariably	invariably	ADV	_	16 spoilt	advmod
16	spoilt	spoil	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	10 proposition	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	the proposition	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	spoil	present · passive	children	invariably 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

It applies to every child possessing a room of his or her own

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	ADP	_	5 child	case
4	every	every	DET	PronType=Tot	5 child	det
5	child	child	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 applies	obl
6	possessing	possess	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 applies	advcl
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 room	det
8	room	room	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 possessing	obj
9	of	of	ADP	_	10 his	case
10	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	8 room	acl:relcl
11	or	or	CCONJ	_	13 own	cc
12	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	13 own	nmod:poss
13	own	own	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 possessing	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	apply	present	It					to every child	vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
2	possess	gerund		a room					vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot room=Theme

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice

It is correct save where the child resides upon a farm

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	4 save	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 save	cop
3	correct	correct	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 save	amod
4	save	save	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	where	where	ADV	PronType=Rel	8 resides	advmod
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 child	det
7	child	child	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 resides	nsubj
8	resides	reside	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 save	acl:relcl
9	upon	upon	ADP	_	11 farm	case
10	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 farm	det
11	farm	farm	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 resides	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	correct save					tree rules
2	reside	present	the child			a farm			vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme upon farm=Location

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

It is a stereotype unsupported by the circumstances of most only children

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	4 stereotype	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 stereotype	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 stereotype	det
4	stereotype	stereotype	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	unsupported	unsupport	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 stereotype	acl
6	by	by	ADP	_	8 circumstances	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 circumstances	det
8	circumstances	circumstance	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 unsupported	obl
9	of	of	ADP	_	12 children	case
10	most	most	ADJ	Degree=Sup	12 children	amod
11	only	only	ADV	_	12 children	advmod
12	children	child	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 circumstances	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a stereotype					tree rules
2	unsupport	participle		a stereotype not said here				by the circumstances of most children	tree rules

Option 4

It is an established truth confirmed by all the evidence

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 truth	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 truth	cop
3	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 truth	det
4	established	establish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 truth	amod
5	truth	truth	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	confirmed	confirm	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 truth	acl
7	by	by	ADP	_	10 evidence	case
8	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	10 evidence	det:predet
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 evidence	det
10	evidence	evidence	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 confirmed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	establish	participle				vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot
2	is a	present	It	a established truth		tree rules
3	confirm	participle		a established truth not said here	by all evidence	vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot

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/498-the-only-child-a-quiet-house/e1/