Exam question 2 · The United States: a short story

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the significance of George Washington's departure from office after two terms?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: George · What happens: follow, characteris, depart · To what, where: significance, office

This is exam question 2 of lesson 38 «The United States: a short story» of the history 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 significance	det
10	significance	significance	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	15 departure	case
12	George	George	PROPN	Number=Sing	15 departure	nmod:poss
13	Washington	Washington	PROPN	Number=Sing	12 George	flat
14	's	's	PART	_	12 George	case
15	departure	departure	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 significance	nmod
16	from	from	ADP	_	17 office	case
17	office	office	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 departure	nmod
18	after	after	ADP	_	20 terms	case
19	two	two	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	20 terms	nummod
20	terms	term	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 characterises	obl
21	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund						vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the significance of George's departure from office		after two terms	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	depart		George		office			nom departure «act intransitive»: poss=agent from=place

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

It caused the dissolution of the United States into thirteen separate republics

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 caused	nsubj
2	caused	cause	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 dissolution	det
4	dissolution	dissolution	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 caused	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	8 States	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 States	det
7	United	United	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 States	amod
8	States	State	PROPN	Number=Plur	4 dissolution	nmod
9	into	into	ADP	_	12 republics	case
10	thirteen	thirteen	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	12 republics	nummod
11	separate	separate	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 republics	amod
12	republics	republic	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 caused	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	cause	past	It	the dissolution of the United States		thirteen separate republics			vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition dissolution=Patient
2	dissolve			the United States					nom dissolution «process transitive»: of=patient

Option 2

It restored British rule

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 restored	nsubj
2	restored	restore	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	British	British	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 rule	amod
4	rule	rule	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 restored	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	restore	past	It	British rule					vn contribute-13.2 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent rule=Theme

Option 3

It made him king

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 made	nsubj
2	made	make	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 made	obj
4	king	king	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 made	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	make	past	It	king	him = he				vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP NP»: agent=Asset he=Beneficiary king=Product

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

It established a precedent against the indefinite retention of power

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 established	nsubj
2	established	establish	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 precedent	det
4	precedent	precedent	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 established	obj
5	against	against	ADP	_	8 retention	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 retention	det
7	indefinite	indefinite	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 retention	amod
8	retention	retention	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 established	obl
9	of	of	ADP	_	10 power	case
10	power	power	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 retention	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	establish	past	It	a precedent				against the indefinite retention of power	vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent precedent=Patient
2	retain			power					nom retention «act transitive»: of=patient

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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