Exam question 1 · British and American words

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the divergence between British and American English vocabulary?

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · What happens: follow, characteris · To what, where: divergence

This is exam question 1 of lesson 21 «British and American words» of the language 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 divergence	det
10	divergence	divergence	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	between	between	ADP	_	16 vocabulary	case
12	British	British	ADJ	Degree=Pos	16 vocabulary	amod
13	and	and	CCONJ	_	14 American	cc
14	American	American	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 British	conj
15	English	English	PROPN	Number=Sing	16 vocabulary	compound
16	vocabulary	vocabulary	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 divergence	nmod
17	?	?	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 divergence				of the following statements; between British English vocabulary; 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

The two varieties are mutually unintelligible

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 varieties	det
2	two	two	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	3 varieties	nummod
3	varieties	variety	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 unintelligible	nsubj
4	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 unintelligible	cop
5	mutually	mutually	ADV	_	6 unintelligible	advmod
6	unintelligible	unintelligible	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	present	the two varieties					mutually, unintelligible property	tree rules

Option 2

American usage constitutes an erroneous corruption of British usage, to be corrected

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	American	American	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 usage	amod
2	usage	usage	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 constitutes	nsubj
3	constitutes	constitute	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 corruption	det
5	erroneous	erroneous	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 corruption	amod
6	corruption	corruption	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 constitutes	obj
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 usage	case
8	British	British	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 usage	amod
9	usage	usage	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 corruption	nmod
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 corrected	punct
11	to	to	PART	_	13 corrected	mark
12	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	13 corrected	aux:pass
13	corrected	correct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 constitutes	parataxis

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	constitute	present	American usage	a erroneous corruption of British usage					vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme corruption=Pivot
2	correct speech: disagree	to-infinitive · passive							vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»

Option 3

British usage is regarded as obsolete in all respects by the authorities of both nations

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	British	British	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 usage	amod
2	usage	usage	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 regarded	nsubj:pass
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 regarded	aux:pass
4	regarded	regard	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	as	as	ADP	_	6 obsolete	case
6	obsolete	obsolete	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 regarded	obl
7	in	in	ADP	_	9 respects	case
8	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	9 respects	det
9	respects	respects	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 regarded	obl
10	by	by	ADP	_	12 authorities	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 authorities	det
12	authorities	authority	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 regarded	obl:agent
13	of	of	ADP	_	15 nations	case
14	both	both	DET	PronType=Tot	15 nations	det
15	nations	nation	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 authorities	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	regard	present · passive	the authorities of both nations	British usage		all respects		as obsolete	vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP PP.value»: agent=Agent subject=Theme as obsolete=Value

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

Each variety employs certain distinct words for identical objects, and both are correct

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	2 variety	det
2	variety	variety	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 employs	nsubj
3	employs	employ	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	certain	certain	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 words	amod
5	distinct	distinct	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 words	amod
6	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 employs	obj
7	for	for	ADP	_	9 objects	case
8	identical	identical	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 objects	amod
9	objects	object	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 words	nmod
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 correct	punct
11	and	and	CCONJ	_	14 correct	cc
12	both	both	DET	PronType=Tot	14 correct	nsubj
13	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	14 correct	cop
14	correct	correct	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 employs	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	employ	present	each variety	certain distinct words				for identical objects	vn use-105.1 «NP V NP PP.predicate»: agent=Agent word=Theme for object=Eventuality
2	is	present	both					correct property	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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