---
title: It is given that a child overhears an argument between parents. Asce… — Grown-ups who argue and make up · tree and pragmatics
description: It is given that a child overhears an argument between parents. Ascertain the responsibility of the child in respect thereof. Exam question 4 of lesson 14 «Grown-ups who argue and make up» of the adult life course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and 
---

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# Exam question 4 · Grown-ups who argue and make up

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is given that a child overhears an argument between parents. Ascertain the responsibility of the child in respect thereof.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** child, you · **What happens:** give, overhear, ascertain · **To what, where:** It, argument, responsibility

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 14 «Grown-ups who argue and make up» of the adult life 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/adult-life/14-grown-ups-who-argue-and-make-up/#e4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* It is given that a child overhears an argument between parents.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:14-grown-ups-who-argue-and-make-up:e4:1
# text = It is given that a child overhears an argument between parents.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	overhears	overhear	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
8	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	argument	argument	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	between	between	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **overhear** | present | a child | a argument |  |  |  | between parents | vn sight-30.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer argument=Stimulus |

<!-- .note -->
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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Ascertain the responsibility of the child in respect thereof.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:14-grown-ups-who-argue-and-make-up:e4:2
# text = Ascertain the responsibility of the child in respect thereof.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	responsibility	responsibility	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	respect	respect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
9	thereof	thereof	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the responsibility of the child in respect |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent responsibility=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The child bears no responsibility to resolve it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:14-grown-ups-who-argue-and-make-up:e4:o1:1
# text = The child bears no responsibility to resolve it
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	bears	bear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	5	det	_	_
5	responsibility	responsibility	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	resolve	resolve	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **resolve** | to-infinitive |  | responsibility |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The child is the cause and must apologise

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:14-grown-ups-who-argue-and-make-up:e4:o2:1
# text = The child is the cause and must apologise
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	apologise	apologise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the child | the cause |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **apologise** *speech: apologize* | must | the child *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The child is obliged to mediate forthwith

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:14-grown-ups-who-argue-and-make-up:e4:o3:1
# text = The child is obliged to mediate forthwith
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	obliged	oblige	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	mediate	mediate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	forthwith	forthwith	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **oblige** | present · passive |  | the child |  |  |  | to mediate forthwith | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The child is obliged to choose a side

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:14-grown-ups-who-argue-and-make-up:e4:o4:1
# text = The child is obliged to choose a side
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	obliged	oblige	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	choose	choose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	side	side	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **oblige** | present · passive |  | the child |  |  |  |  | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Patient clause=Result |
| 2 | **choose** | to-infinitive |  | a side |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent side=Theme |

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**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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- ← previous: [Grown-ups who argue and make up, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/14-grown-ups-who-argue-and-make-up/e3/)
- next →: [When parents separate, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/15-when-parents-separate/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Grown-ups who argue and make up](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/14-grown-ups-who-argue-and-make-up/)