Exam question 4 · "If... then..." and its traps

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an argument whose every step is correct but whose initial rule is false?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: step, initial rule · What happens: follow, characteris, be · To what, where: argument

This is exam question 4 of lesson 184 «"If... then..." and its traps» of the world 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	8 characterises	obl
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	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 argument	det
10	argument	argument	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	whose	whose	PRON	Poss=Yes PronType=Rel	13 step	nmod:poss
12	every	every	DET	PronType=Tot	13 step	det
13	step	step	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 correct	nsubj
14	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	15 correct	cop
15	correct	correct	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 argument	acl:relcl
16	but	but	CCONJ	_	21 false	cc
17	whose	whose	PRON	Poss=Yes PronType=Rel	19 rule	nmod:poss
18	initial	initial	ADJ	Degree=Pos	19 rule	amod
19	rule	rule	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 false	nsubj
20	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	21 false	cop
21	false	false	ADJ	Degree=Pos	15 correct	conj
22	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		a argument	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	is	present	every step		correct property	tree rules
4	is	present	initial rule		false property	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.

The options

Option 1 · ← Mova's choice

It cannot contain any correct step whatsoever

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	4 contain	nsubj
2	can	can	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	4 contain	aux
3	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	4 contain	advmod
4	contain	contain	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
5	any	any	DET	PronType=Ind	7 step	det
6	correct	correct	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 step	amod
7	step	step	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 contain	obj
8	whatsoever	whatsoever	ADV	_	4 contain	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	not contain	can	It	any correct step				whatsoever property	vn comprise-107.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot step=Theme

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

Its conclusion may nonetheless be false

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	2 conclusion	nmod:poss
2	conclusion	conclusion	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 false	nsubj
3	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	6 false	aux
4	nonetheless	nonetheless	ADV	_	6 false	advmod
5	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	6 false	cop
6	false	false	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	may	Its conclusion					false, nonetheless property	tree rules
2	conclude		Its = it						nom conclusion «cognition transitive»: poss=agent

Option 3

Its conclusion is necessarily and always true

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	2 conclusion	nmod:poss
2	conclusion	conclusion	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 necessarily	nsubj
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 necessarily	cop
4	necessarily	necessarily	ADV	_	root	root
5	and	and	CCONJ	_	7 true	cc
6	always	always	ADV	PronType=Tot	7 true	advmod
7	true	true	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 necessarily	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	other	roles by
1	is	present	Its conclusion	necessarily property	tree rules
2	be		Its conclusion not said here	always property	tree rules
3	conclude		Its = it		nom conclusion «cognition transitive»: poss=agent

Option 4

Its conclusion is necessarily false in every case

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	2 conclusion	nmod:poss
2	conclusion	conclusion	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 false	nsubj
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 false	cop
4	necessarily	necessarily	ADV	_	5 false	advmod
5	false	false	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
6	in	in	ADP	_	8 case	case
7	every	every	DET	PronType=Tot	8 case	det
8	case	case	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 false	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	present	Its conclusion			every case		false, necessarily property	tree rules
2	conclude		Its = it						nom conclusion «cognition transitive»: poss=agent

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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