Test 3 · ★ · The news: who makes it and how
A boomer neighbour says, "In my day the news was just facts, none of this opinion jazz." Which is true today?
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: boomer neighbour, news · What happens: say, be · To what, where: facts · Speech: someone speaks here
This is test 3 · ★ of lesson 10 «The news: who makes it and how» of the politics course of Mova's primary school. 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
Sentence 1: A boomer neighbour says, "In my day the news was just facts, none of this opinion jazz."
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 neighbour | det |
| 2 | boomer | boomer | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 neighbour | compound |
| 3 | neighbour | neighbour | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 says | nsubj |
| 4 | says | say | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 5 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 14 facts | punct |
| 6 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 14 facts | punct |
| 7 | In | in | ADP | _ | 9 day | case |
| 8 | my | my | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Sing Person=1 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 9 day | nmod:poss |
| 9 | day | day | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 facts | obl |
| 10 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 11 news | det |
| 11 | news | news | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 facts | nsubj |
| 12 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 14 facts | cop |
| 13 | just | just | ADV | _ | 14 facts | advmod |
| 14 | facts | fact | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 says | parataxis |
| 15 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 16 none | punct |
| 16 | none | none | PRON | PronType=Neg | 14 facts | conj |
| 17 | of | of | ADP | _ | 20 jazz | case |
| 18 | this | this | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 20 jazz | det |
| 19 | opinion | opinion | NOUN | Number=Sing | 20 jazz | compound |
| 20 | jazz | jazz | NOUN | Number=Sing | 16 none | nmod |
| 21 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 14 facts | punct |
| 22 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 4 says | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | say speech: assert | present | a boomer neighbour | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 2 | is a in a quote | past | the news | facts | day | tree rules |
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.
Sentence 2: Which is true today?
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 3 true | nsubj |
| 2 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 true | cop |
| 3 | true | true | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 4 | today | today | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 true | obl:unmarked |
| 5 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 3 true | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | present | today | true property | tree rules |
The options
Option 1 · ← Mova's choice
The news today is only opinion
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 news | det |
| 2 | news | news | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 opinion | nsubj |
| 3 | today | today | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 news | nmod:unmarked |
| 4 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 6 opinion | cop |
| 5 | only | only | ADV | _ | 6 opinion | advmod |
| 6 | opinion | opinion | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is a | present | the news today | opinion | tree rules |
Option 2 · ✓ the right answer
News and opinion can be on the same channel, so it helps to ask which you are hearing
The tree, 18 words
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | News | news | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 channel | nsubj |
| 2 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 3 opinion | cc |
| 3 | opinion | opinion | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 News | conj |
| 4 | can | can | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 9 channel | aux |
| 5 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 9 channel | cop |
| 6 | on | on | ADP | _ | 9 channel | case |
| 7 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 9 channel | det |
| 8 | same | same | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 9 channel | amod |
| 9 | channel | channel | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 10 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 13 helps | punct |
| 11 | so | so | ADV | _ | 13 helps | advmod |
| 12 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 13 helps | nsubj |
| 13 | helps | help | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 9 channel | conj |
| 14 | to | to | PART | _ | 15 ask | mark |
| 15 | ask | ask | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 13 helps | xcomp |
| 16 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 19 hearing | obj |
| 17 | you | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 19 hearing | nsubj |
| 18 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 19 hearing | aux |
| 19 | hearing | hear | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 15 ask | ccomp |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | can | News and opinion | the same channel | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | help | present | channel | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | |||||
| 3 | ask speech: ask | to-infinitive | channel not said here | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 4 | hear | present · progressive | you | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer which=Stimulus |
Option 3
Opinion is never allowed on the news by law, so everything a news channel says is plain fact
The tree, 18 words
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Opinion | opinion | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 allowed | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 allowed | aux:pass |
| 3 | never | never | ADV | PronType=Neg | 4 allowed | advmod |
| 4 | allowed | allow | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 19 fact | csubj |
| 5 | on | on | ADP | _ | 7 news | case |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 news | det |
| 7 | news | news | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 allowed | obl |
| 8 | by | by | ADP | _ | 9 law | case |
| 9 | law | law | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 allowed | obl |
| 10 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 16 says | punct |
| 11 | so | so | ADV | _ | 16 says | advmod |
| 12 | everything | everything | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Tot | 16 says | nsubj |
| 13 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 15 channel | det |
| 14 | news | news | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 channel | compound |
| 15 | channel | channel | NOUN | Number=Sing | 16 says | nsubj |
| 16 | says | say | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 allowed | conj |
| 17 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 19 fact | cop |
| 18 | plain | plain | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 19 fact | amod |
| 19 | fact | fact | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | not allow | present · passive | law | Opinion | the news | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Beneficiary | |||
| 2 | say speech: assert | present | everything | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 3 | is a | present | plain fact | tree rules |
Option 4
Facts were only invented recently
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Facts | fact | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 invented | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 invented | aux:pass |
| 3 | only | only | ADV | _ | 4 invented | advmod |
| 4 | invented | invent | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 5 | recently | recently | ADV | _ | 4 invented | advmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | invent | past · passive | Facts | recently property | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Result |
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.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/10-the-news-who-makes-it-and-how/t3/