Exam question 4 · Big brothers
It is given that a pupil repeated in class an improper expression taught to him by an elder brother. Ascertain whether the brother's instruction excuses the pupil.
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: pupil, you, instruction, brother · What happens: give, repeat, teach, ascertain, excuse, instruct · To what, where: It, improper expression, class, him, pupil
This is exam question 4 of lesson 501 «Big brothers» 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
Sentence 1: It is given that a pupil repeated in class an improper expression taught to him by an elder brother.
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 given | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 given | aux:pass |
| 3 | given | give | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 4 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 13 taught | mark |
| 5 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 6 pupil | det |
| 6 | pupil | pupil | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 taught | nsubj |
| 7 | repeated | repeat | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 6 pupil | acl |
| 8 | in | in | ADP | _ | 9 class | case |
| 9 | class | class | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 repeated | obl |
| 10 | an | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 12 expression | det |
| 11 | improper | improper | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 expression | compound |
| 12 | expression | expression | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 repeated | obl |
| 13 | taught | teach | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 3 given | advcl |
| 14 | to | to | ADP | _ | 15 him | case |
| 15 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 13 taught | obl |
| 16 | by | by | ADP | _ | 19 brother | case |
| 17 | an | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 19 brother | det |
| 18 | elder | elder | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 19 brother | amod |
| 19 | brother | brother | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 taught | obl |
| 20 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 3 given | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | give | present · passive | It | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | |||||
| 2 | repeat | participle | a pupil not said here | a improper expression | class | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality | |||
| 3 | teach speech: other | past | a pupil | him = he | by a elder brother | vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient how S»: agent=Agent to he=Recipient |
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.
Sentence 2: Ascertain whether the brother's instruction excuses the pupil.
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ascertain | ascertain | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 2 | whether | whether | SCONJ | _ | 7 excuses | mark |
| 3 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 4 brother | det |
| 4 | brother | brother | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 instruction | nmod:poss |
| 5 | 's | 's | PART | _ | 4 brother | case |
| 6 | instruction | instruction | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 excuses | nsubj |
| 7 | excuses | excuse | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 1 Ascertain | advcl |
| 8 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 9 pupil | det |
| 9 | pupil | pupil | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 excuses | obj |
| 10 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 1 Ascertain | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ascertain | imperative | you not said here | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 2 | excuse | present | the brother's instruction | the pupil | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pupil=Theme | ||||
| 3 | instruct | the brother | nom instruction «communication transitive»: poss=agent |
The options
Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer
It does not excuse him
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 excuse | nsubj |
| 2 | does | do | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 excuse | aux |
| 3 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 4 excuse | advmod |
| 4 | excuse | excuse | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | root | root |
| 5 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 4 excuse | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | not excuse | present · do-support | It | him = he | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
Option 2
It transfers the fault entirely to the brother
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 transfers | nsubj |
| 2 | transfers | transfer | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 4 fault | det |
| 4 | fault | fault | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 transfers | obj |
| 5 | entirely | entirely | ADV | _ | 2 transfers | advmod |
| 6 | to | to | ADP | _ | 8 brother | case |
| 7 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 8 brother | det |
| 8 | brother | brother | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 transfers | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | transfer | present | It | the fault | the brother | entirely property | vn contribute-13.2-2 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent fault=Theme to brother=Recipient |
Option 3
It wholly excuses him
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 excuses | nsubj |
| 2 | wholly | wholly | ADV | _ | 3 excuses | advmod |
| 3 | excuses | excuse | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 3 excuses | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | excuse | present | It | him = he | wholly property | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
Option 4
It excuses him in part
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 excuses | nsubj |
| 2 | excuses | excuse | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 2 excuses | obj |
| 4 | in | in | ADP | _ | 5 part | case |
| 5 | part | part | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 excuses | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | excuse | present | It | him = he | part | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=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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