Exam question 4 · Which number counts? Hyperbole and real numbers in maths

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the figures «8,849 metres», stated by a teacher in respect of Everest, and «a thousand miles», asserted by a parent in respect of a local hill?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris, state, assert, respect · To what, where: figures, respect, Everest, local hill

This is exam question 4 of lesson 46 «Which number counts? Hyperbole and real numbers in maths» 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	1 Which	nmod
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 figures	det
10	figures	figure	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 characterises	obj
11	«	«	PUNCT	_	13 metres	punct
12	8,849	8,849	NUM	NumForm=Digit NumType=Card	13 metres	nummod
13	metres	metre	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 figures	appos
14	»	»	PUNCT	_	13 metres	punct
15	,	,	PUNCT	_	16 stated	punct
16	stated	state	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	10 figures	acl
17	by	by	ADP	_	19 teacher	case
18	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	19 teacher	det
19	teacher	teacher	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 stated	obl
20	in	in	ADP	_	21 respect	case
21	respect	respect	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 stated	obl
22	of	of	ADP	_	23 Everest	case
23	Everest	Everest	PROPN	Number=Sing	21 respect	nmod
24	,	,	PUNCT	_	29 miles	punct
25	and	and	CCONJ	_	29 miles	cc
26	«	«	PUNCT	_	29 miles	punct
27	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	28 thousand	det
28	thousand	thousand	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	29 miles	nummod
29	miles	mile	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 characterises	parataxis
30	»	»	PUNCT	_	29 miles	punct
31	,	,	PUNCT	_	32 asserted	punct
32	asserted	assert	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 characterises	conj
33	by	by	ADP	_	35 parent	case
34	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	35 parent	det
35	parent	parent	NOUN	Number=Sing	32 asserted	obl
36	in	in	ADP	_	37 respect	case
37	respect	respect	NOUN	Number=Sing	32 asserted	obl
38	of	of	ADP	_	41 hill	case
39	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	41 hill	det
40	local	local	ADJ	Degree=Pos	41 hill	amod
41	hill	hill	NOUN	Number=Sing	37 respect	nmod
42	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present	the figures		accurately property	tree rules
3	state speech: other	participle	the figures not said here	respect of Everest	by a teacher	vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent
4	assert	participle		respect of a local hill	by a parent	vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent
5	respect		Everest			nom respect «cognition transitive»: of=patient
6	respect		a local hill			nom respect «cognition 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

Both are measurements of equal reliability

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Both	both	DET	PronType=Tot	3 measurements	det
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 measurements	cop
3	measurements	measurement	NOUN	Number=Plur	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 reliability	case
5	equal	equal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 reliability	amod
6	reliability	reliability	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 measurements	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present		both measurements				of equal reliability	tree rules

Option 2

Neither figure may be regarded as a measurement

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Neither	neither	DET	PronType=Neg	2 figure	det
2	figure	figure	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 regarded	nsubj:pass
3	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	5 regarded	aux
4	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	5 regarded	aux:pass
5	regarded	regard	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	as	as	ADP	_	8 measurement	case
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 measurement	det
8	measurement	measurement	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 regarded	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	regard	may · passive		neither figure				as a measurement	vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP PP.value»: subject=Theme as measurement=Value

Option 3

The former is an exaggeration; the latter is a measurement

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 exaggeration	det
2	former	former	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 exaggeration	amod
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 exaggeration	cop
4	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 exaggeration	det
5	exaggeration	exaggeration	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 measurement	nsubj
6	;	;	PUNCT	_	5 exaggeration	punct
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 latter	det
8	latter	latter	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 exaggeration	amod
9	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	11 measurement	cop
10	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 measurement	det
11	measurement	measurement	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present		the former exaggeration					tree rules
2	is a	present	the former exaggeration	a measurement					tree rules

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

The former is a measurement; the latter conveys a feeling of fatigue

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 measurement	det
2	former	former	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 measurement	amod
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 measurement	cop
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 measurement	det
5	measurement	measurement	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	;	;	PUNCT	_	9 conveys	punct
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 latter	det
8	latter	latter	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 conveys	nsubj
9	conveys	convey	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 measurement	acl:relcl
10	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 feeling	det
11	feeling	feeling	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 conveys	obj
12	of	of	ADP	_	13 fatigue	case
13	fatigue	fatigue	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 feeling	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present		the former measurement					tree rules
2	convey	present	the latter	a feeling of fatigue					vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent feeling=Topic

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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