Exam question 3 · ★★★ Olympiad: hyperbole and downplaying puzzles

Identify the principal reason for which the word «starving» constitutes hyperbole in one context and a literal statement in another.

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 1 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, word · What happens: identify, starve, constitute · To what, where: principal reason, hyperbole, one context

This is exam question 3 of lesson 55 «★★★ Olympiad: hyperbole and downplaying puzzles» 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 reason	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 reason	amod
4	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
5	for	for	ADP	_	6 which	case
6	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	12 constitutes	obl
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 word	det
8	word	word	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 constitutes	nsubj
9	«	«	PUNCT	_	10 starving	punct
10	starving	starve	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	8 word	acl
11	»	»	PUNCT	_	10 starving	punct
12	constitutes	constitute	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 reason	parataxis
13	hyperbole	hyperbole	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 constitutes	obj
14	in	in	ADP	_	16 context	case
15	one	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	16 context	nummod
16	context	context	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 constitutes	obl
17	and	and	CCONJ	_	20 statement	cc
18	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	20 statement	det
19	literal	literal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	20 statement	amod
20	statement	statement	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 context	conj
21	in	in	ADP	_	22 another	case
22	another	another	DET	PronType=Ind	20 statement	nmod
23	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	the principal reason			vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme
2	starve in a quote	gerund	the word not said here				tree rules
3	constitute	present	the word	hyperbole	one context and a literal statement in another	for the principal reason	vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme hyperbole=Pivot

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

The circumstances determine whether the word exceeds or matches the facts

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 circumstances	det
2	circumstances	circumstance	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 determine	nsubj
3	determine	determine	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	whether	whether	SCONJ	_	7 exceeds	mark
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 word	det
6	word	word	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 exceeds	nsubj
7	exceeds	exceed	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 determine	ccomp
8	or	or	CCONJ	_	9 matches	cc
9	matches	match	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 exceeds	conj
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 facts	det
11	facts	fact	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 matches	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	determine	present	the circumstances		vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
2	exceed	present	the word		vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot
3	match	present	the word not said here	the facts	vn amalgamate-22.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fact=Patient

Option 2

The word bears a different spelling in works of history

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 bears	det
2	word	word	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 bears	compound
3	bears	bear	NOUN	Number=Plur	root	root
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 spelling	det
5	different	different	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 spelling	amod
6	spelling	spelling	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 bears	appos
7	in	in	ADP	_	8 works	case
8	works	work	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 spelling	nmod
9	of	of	ADP	_	10 history	case
10	history	history	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 works	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	work		history						nom work «act intransitive»: of=agent

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice

The word is invariably employed as hyperbole

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 word	det
2	word	word	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 employed	nsubj:pass
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 employed	aux
4	invariably	invariably	ADV	_	5 employed	advmod
5	employed	employ	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	as	as	ADP	_	7 hyperbole	case
7	hyperbole	hyperbole	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 employed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	employ	present · passive		the word				as hyperbole; invariably property	vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: subject=Theme as hyperbole=Attribute

Option 4

The word is invariably employed literally

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 word	det
2	word	word	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 employed	nsubj:pass
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 employed	aux
4	invariably	invariably	ADV	_	5 employed	advmod
5	employed	employ	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	literally	literally	ADV	_	5 employed	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	employ	present · passive		the word				invariably, literally property	vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: subject=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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