Exam question 4 · How to argue: counter-arguments and respect

Given that two parties remain in disagreement after reasoned discussion, ascertain the conduct most consistent with the principles herein set out.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, two parties · What happens: give, remain, ascertain, set out · To what, where: disagreement, conduct, principles

This is exam question 4 of lesson 40 «How to argue: counter-arguments and respect» of the religion ethics 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	Given	give	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	12 ascertain	advcl
2	that	that	SCONJ	_	5 remain	mark
3	two	two	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	4 parties	nummod
4	parties	party	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 remain	nsubj
5	remain	remain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	1 Given	ccomp
6	in	in	ADP	_	7 disagreement	case
7	disagreement	disagreement	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 remain	obl
8	after	after	ADP	_	10 discussion	case
9	reasoned	reasoned	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 discussion	amod
10	discussion	discussion	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 remain	obl
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	12 ascertain	punct
12	ascertain	ascertain	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 conduct	det
14	conduct	conduct	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 ascertain	obj
15	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	16 consistent	advmod
16	consistent	consistent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 conduct	amod
17	with	with	ADP	_	19 principles	case
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 principles	det
19	principles	principle	NOUN	Number=Plur	16 consistent	obl
20	herein	herein	ADV	_	21 set	advmod
21	set	set	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	19 principles	acl
22	out	out	ADP	_	21 set	compound:prt
23	.	.	PUNCT	_	12 ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	give	participle	you not said here					tree rules
2	remain	present	two parties		disagreement	after reasoned discussion		vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in disagreement=Location
3	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the conduct				vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent conduct=Topic
4	set out	participle		the principles not said here			herein property	vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

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

To persist in argument until one party is compelled to concede

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	To	to	PART	_	2 persist	mark
2	persist	persist	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	in	in	ADP	_	4 argument	case
4	argument	argument	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 persist	obl
5	until	until	SCONJ	_	9 compelled	mark
6	one	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	7 party	nummod
7	party	party	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 compelled	nsubj:pass
8	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	9 compelled	aux:pass
9	compelled	compel	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 persist	advcl
10	to	to	PART	_	11 concede	mark
11	concede	concede	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	9 compelled	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	where	roles by
1	persist	to-infinitive		argument	vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in argument=Location
2	compel	present · passive	one party		vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: subject=Patient clause=Result
3	concede	to-infinitive			vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

To acknowledge the disagreement whilst preserving mutual respect

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	To	to	PART	_	2 acknowledge	mark
2	acknowledge	acknowledge	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 disagreement	det
4	disagreement	disagreement	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 acknowledge	obj
5	whilst	whilst	SCONJ	_	6 preserving	mark
6	preserving	preserve	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	4 disagreement	acl
7	mutual	mutual	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 respect	amod
8	respect	respect	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 preserving	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	acknowledge	to-infinitive		the disagreement					vn confess-37.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent disagreement=Topic
2	preserve	gerund	the disagreement not said here	mutual respect					vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent respect=Beneficiary

Option 3

To feign agreement whilst disparaging the other party privately

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	To	to	PART	_	2 feign	mark
2	feign	feign	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	agreement	agreement	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 feign	obj
4	whilst	whilst	SCONJ	_	5 disparaging	mark
5	disparaging	disparage	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 feign	advcl
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 party	det
7	other	other	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 party	amod
8	party	party	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 disparaging	obj
9	privately	privately	ADV	_	5 disparaging	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	feign	to-infinitive		agreement					vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent agreement=Patient
2	disparage	gerund		the other party				privately property	vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent party=Theme

Option 4

To terminate all further relations between the two parties without delay

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	To	to	PART	_	2 terminate	mark
2	terminate	terminate	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	5 relations	det
4	further	further	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 relations	amod
5	relations	relation	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 terminate	obj
6	between	between	ADP	_	9 parties	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 parties	det
8	two	two	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	9 parties	nummod
9	parties	party	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 relations	nmod
10	without	without	ADP	_	11 delay	case
11	delay	delay	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 terminate	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	terminate	to-infinitive		all further relations				between the two parties; without delay	vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent relation=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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