Exam question 1 · Starving, a million times and a ton: everyday hyperbole

Identify the figure of speech employed when a child, having eaten luncheon three and a half hours previously, declares that he is «starving».

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, speech, child · What happens: identify, employ, have, eat, declare, starve · To what, where: figure, child, eaten luncheon, speech · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 1 of lesson 44 «Starving, a million times and a ton: everyday hyperbole» 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 figure	det
3	figure	figure	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
4	of	of	ADP	_	5 speech	case
5	speech	speech	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 figure	nmod
6	employed	employ	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 speech	acl
7	when	when	ADV	PronType=Int	9 child	advmod
8	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 child	det
9	child	child	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 employed	obl
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 having	punct
11	having	have	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	1 Identify	advcl
12	eaten	eat	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	13 luncheon	amod
13	luncheon	luncheon	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 having	obj
14	three	three	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	18 hours	nummod
15	and	and	CCONJ	_	17 half	cc
16	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	17 half	det
17	half	half	NOUN	Number=Sing NumForm=Word NumType=Frac	14 three	conj
18	hours	hour	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 having	obl:unmarked
19	previously	previously	ADV	_	11 having	advmod
20	,	,	PUNCT	_	21 declares	punct
21	declares	declare	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	1 Identify	parataxis
22	that	that	SCONJ	_	26 starving	mark
23	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	26 starving	nsubj
24	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	26 starving	aux
25	«	«	PUNCT	_	26 starving	punct
26	starving	starve	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	21 declares	ccomp
27	»	»	PUNCT	_	26 starving	punct
28	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	when	other	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	the figure of speech			vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent figure=Theme
2	employ	participle	speech not said here	a child			vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
3	have	gerund	you not said here	eaten luncheon	hour	previously property	vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent luncheon=Patient
4	eat	participle					vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
5	declare speech: other	present					vn declare-29.4-1-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
6	starve in a quote	present · progressive	child				tree rules
7	figure			speech			nom figure «communication transitive»: of=patient

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

A literal statement of a condition requiring medical attention

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 statement	det
2	literal	literal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 statement	amod
3	statement	statement	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 condition	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 condition	det
6	condition	condition	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 statement	nmod
7	requiring	require	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	6 condition	acl
8	medical	medical	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 attention	amod
9	attention	attention	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 requiring	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	require	gerund	a condition not said here	medical attention					vn require-103-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme attention=Precondition
2	state			a condition					nom statement «communication transitive»: of=patient

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

Hyperbole, a deliberate exaggeration expressing a strong feeling

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Hyperbole	hyperbole	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
2	,	,	PUNCT	_	5 exaggeration	punct
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 exaggeration	det
4	deliberate	deliberate	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 exaggeration	amod
5	exaggeration	exaggeration	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Hyperbole	conj
6	expressing	express	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 exaggeration	acl
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 feeling	det
8	strong	strong	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 feeling	amod
9	feeling	feeling	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 expressing	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	express	gerund	a deliberate exaggeration not said here	a strong feeling					vn reflexive_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent feeling=Theme

Option 3

Understatement, a deliberate diminution of the facts

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Understatement	understatement	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
2	,	,	PUNCT	_	5 diminution	punct
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 diminution	det
4	deliberate	deliberate	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 diminution	amod
5	diminution	diminution	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Understatement	appos
6	of	of	ADP	_	8 facts	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 facts	det
8	facts	fact	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 diminution	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	diminish		the facts						nom diminution «process intransitive»: of=agent

Option 4

A precise report of the hours elapsed since his meal

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 report	det
2	precise	precise	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 report	amod
3	report	report	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 hours	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 hours	det
6	hours	hour	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 report	nmod
7	elapsed	elapse	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 hours	acl
8	since	since	ADP	_	10 meal	case
9	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	10 meal	nmod:poss
10	meal	meal	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 elapsed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	elapse	participle		the hours not said here			since his meal		tree rules
2	report			the hours					nom report «communication 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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