Exam question 2 · Texting, abbreviations and emoji

Identify the principal significance of a letter written by Lord Fisher in 1917 containing "O.M.G.".

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you · What happens: identify, write, contain · To what, where: principal significance, letter, O.M.G, 1917

This is exam question 2 of lesson 30 «Texting, abbreviations and emoji» 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	Identify	identify	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 significance	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 significance	amod
4	significance	significance	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	7 letter	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 letter	det
7	letter	letter	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 significance	nmod
8	written	write	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	7 letter	acl
9	by	by	ADP	_	10 Lord	case
10	Lord	Lord	PROPN	Number=Sing	8 written	obl
11	Fisher	Fisher	PROPN	Number=Sing	10 Lord	flat
12	in	in	ADP	_	13 1917	case
13	1917	1917	NUM	NumForm=Digit NumType=Card	14 containing	obl
14	containing	contain	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	1 Identify	advcl
15	"	"	PUNCT	_	14 containing	punct
16	O.M.G	O.M.G	PROPN	Number=Sing	14 containing	obj
17	.	.	PUNCT	_	16 O.M.G	punct
18	"	"	PUNCT	_	16 O.M.G	punct
19	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	the principal significance of a letter			vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent significance=Theme
2	write	participle		a letter not said here		by Lord	vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	contain	gerund	you not said here	O.M.G	1917		vn fit-54.3 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent o.m.g=Value in 1917=Location

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 establishes that abbreviations were then prohibited

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 establishes	nsubj
2	establishes	establish	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	that	that	SCONJ	_	7 prohibited	mark
4	abbreviations	abbreviation	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 prohibited	nsubj:pass
5	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	7 prohibited	aux:pass
6	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	7 prohibited	advmod
7	prohibited	prohibit	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 establishes	ccomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	establish	present	It						vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot clause=Topic
2	prohibit	past · passive		abbreviations			then		vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme

Option 2

It proves that Churchill devised text messaging

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 proves	nsubj
2	proves	prove	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	that	that	SCONJ	_	5 devised	mark
4	Churchill	Churchill	PROPN	Number=Sing	5 devised	nsubj
5	devised	devise	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 proves	ccomp
6	text	text	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 messaging	compound
7	messaging	messaging	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 devised	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	prove	present	It						vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
2	devise	past	Churchill	text messaging					vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent messaging=Patient

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

It demonstrates that such abbreviations predate mobile telephones

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 demonstrates	nsubj
2	demonstrates	demonstrate	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	that	that	SCONJ	_	6 predate	mark
4	such	such	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 abbreviations	amod
5	abbreviations	abbreviation	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 predate	nsubj
6	predate	predate	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 demonstrates	advcl
7	mobile	mobile	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 telephones	amod
8	telephones	telephone	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 predate	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	demonstrate	present	It						vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	predate	present	such abbreviations	mobile telephones					vn contiguous_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme telephone=Co-Theme

Option 4

It constitutes the earliest evidence for the invention of the mobile telephone

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 constitutes	nsubj
2	constitutes	constitute	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 evidence	det
4	earliest	early	ADJ	Degree=Sup	5 evidence	amod
5	evidence	evidence	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 constitutes	obj
6	for	for	ADP	_	8 invention	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 invention	det
8	invention	invention	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 evidence	nmod
9	of	of	ADP	_	12 telephone	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 telephone	det
11	mobile	mobile	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 telephone	amod
12	telephone	telephone	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 invention	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	constitute	present	It	the earliest evidence				for the invention of the mobile telephone	vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme evidence=Pivot
2	invent			the mobile telephone					nom invention «cognition 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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