Exam question 1 · Alice's word games: puns, parodies and nonsense

Identify the device employed by the author in the line «because he taught us», given in explanation of the name Tortoise.

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 1 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, he, name · What happens: identify, employ, teach, give, explain · To what, where: device, us, explanation

This is exam question 1 of lesson 41 «Alice's word games: puns, parodies and nonsense» 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	3 device	det
3	device	device	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
4	employed	employ	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 device	acl
5	by	by	ADP	_	7 author	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 author	det
7	author	author	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 employed	obl
8	in	in	ADP	_	10 line	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 line	det
10	line	line	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 author	nmod
11	«	«	PUNCT	_	14 taught	punct
12	because	because	SCONJ	_	14 taught	mark
13	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	14 taught	nsubj
14	taught	teach	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 employed	parataxis
15	us	we	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=1 PronType=Prs	14 taught	obj
16	»	»	PUNCT	_	14 taught	punct
17	,	,	PUNCT	_	18 given	punct
18	given	give	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 device	acl
19	in	in	ADP	_	20 explanation	case
20	explanation	explanation	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 given	obl
21	of	of	ADP	_	23 name	case
22	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	23 name	det
23	name	name	NOUN	Number=Sing	20 explanation	nmod
24	Tortoise	Tortoise	PROPN	Number=Sing	23 name	appos
25	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	other	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	the device				vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent device=Theme
2	employ	participle		the device not said here			by the author in the line	vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Agent clause=Attribute
3	teach speech: other in a quote	past	he		us			vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent we=Recipient
4	give	participle		the device not said here		explanation of the name		vn break_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient
5	explain		the name					nom explanation «communication intransitive»: of=agent

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 right answer

A pun founded upon two expressions of similar sound

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 pun	det
2	pun	pun	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	founded	found	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 pun	acl
4	upon	upon	ADP	_	6 expressions	case
5	two	two	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	6 expressions	nummod
6	expressions	expression	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 founded	obl:agent
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 sound	case
8	similar	similar	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 sound	amod
9	sound	sound	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 expressions	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	found	participle		a pun not said here					vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice

A parody of a well-known instructional poem

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 parody	det
2	parody	parody	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	9 poem	case
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 poem	det
5	well	well	ADV	Degree=Pos	7 known	advmod
6	-	-	PUNCT	_	5 well	punct
7	known	know	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	9 poem	amod
8	instructional	instructional	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 poem	amod
9	poem	poem	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 parody	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	know	participle						well property	vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer
2	parody			a known instructional poem					nom parody «communication transitive»: of=patient

Option 3

A proverb altered for the purpose of satire

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 proverb	det
2	proverb	proverb	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	altered	alter	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 proverb	acl
4	for	for	ADP	_	6 purpose	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 purpose	det
6	purpose	purpose	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 altered	obl
7	of	of	ADP	_	8 satire	case
8	satire	satire	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 purpose	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	alter	participle		a proverb not said here				for the purpose of satire	vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient
2	purpose		satire						nom purpose «cognition intransitive»: of=agent

Option 4

A riddle constructed so as to admit no answer whatsoever

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 riddle	det
2	riddle	riddle	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	constructed	construct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 riddle	acl
4	so	so	ADV	_	3 constructed	advmod
5	as	as	SCONJ	_	7 admit	mark
6	to	to	PART	_	7 admit	mark
7	admit	admit	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	3 constructed	advcl
8	no	no	DET	PronType=Neg	9 answer	det
9	answer	answer	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 admit	obj
10	whatsoever	whatsoever	ADV	_	7 admit	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	construct	participle		a riddle not said here					vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
2	admit speech: other	to-infinitive		no answer				whatsoever property	vn admit-64.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent answer=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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