---
title: Whereas a parent has momentarily spoken sharply upon discovering the… — The parents walk in: how good parents… · tree and pragmatics
description: Whereas a parent has momentarily spoken sharply upon discovering the incident, ascertain the most probable explanation. Exam question 4 of lesson 59 «The parents walk in: how good parents react» of the adult life course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the questio
---

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# Exam question 4 · The parents walk in: how good parents react

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Whereas a parent has momentarily spoken sharply upon discovering the incident, ascertain the most probable explanation.

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**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** speak, discover, ascertain · **To what, where:** parent, incident, probable explanation · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 59 «The parents walk in: how good parents react» 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/59-the-parents-walk-in-how-good-parents-react/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:59-the-parents-walk-in-how-good-parents-react:e4:1
# text = Whereas a parent has momentarily spoken sharply upon discovering the incident, ascertain the most probable explanation.
1	Whereas	whereas	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	parent	parent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	momentarily	momentarily	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	spoken	speak	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	13	advcl	_	_
7	sharply	sharply	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	upon	upon	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
9	discovering	discover	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	advcl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	incident	incident	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
13	ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
15	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	16	advmod	_	_
16	probable	probable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	explanation	explanation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | present · perfect · passive |  | a parent |  |  |  | momentarily, sharply *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **discover** | gerund |  | the incident |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent incident=Topic |
| 3 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the probable explanation |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent explanation=Topic |

<!-- .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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A wish on the parent's part to view the film in question

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:59-the-parents-walk-in-how-good-parents-react:e4:o1:1
# text = A wish on the parent's part to view the film in question
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	wish	wish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
3	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	parent	parent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	view	view	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	film	film	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **view** | to-infinitive | a wish on the parent's part | the film |  | question |  |  | vn sight-30.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer film=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A long-standing grievance against the child concerned

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:59-the-parents-walk-in-how-good-parents-react:e4:o2:1
# text = A long-standing grievance against the child concerned
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
2	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	standing	stand	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	grievance	grievance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
6	against	against	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	concerned	concerned	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A settled conclusion that the child is wholly at fault

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:59-the-parents-walk-in-how-good-parents-react:e4:o3:1
# text = A settled conclusion that the child is wholly at fault
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	settled	settle	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	amod	_	_
3	conclusion	conclusion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	acl	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
8	wholly	wholly	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	fault	fault	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **settle** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | a settled conclusion |  |  | fault |  | wholly *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Surprise on the parent's part, not blame of the child

```conllu
# sent_id = question:adult-life:59-the-parents-walk-in-how-good-parents-react:e4:o4:1
# text = Surprise on the parent's part, not blame of the child
1	Surprise	surprise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	parent	parent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	blame	blame	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **blame** |  |  | the child |  |  |  |  | nom blame «communication transitive»: of=patient |

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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: [The parents walk in: how good parents…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/59-the-parents-walk-in-how-good-parents-react/e3/)
- next →: [Next time: switch off, tell a grown-up…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/60-next-time-switch-off-tell-and-parental-controls/t1/)
- ↑ back to [The parents walk in: how good parents react](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/adult-life/59-the-parents-walk-in-how-good-parents-react/)