---
title: It is asserted that a black cat crossing one's path portends misfort… — Cat body language and cat myths: milk,… · tree and pragmatics
description: It is asserted that a black cat crossing one's path portends misfortune. Ascertain the correct assessment of this assertion. Exam question 4 of lesson 199 «Cat body language and cat myths: milk, nine lives and landing on their feet» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency
---

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# Exam question 4 · Cat body language and cat myths: milk, nine lives and land…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is asserted that a black cat crossing one's path portends misfortune. Ascertain the correct assessment of this assertion.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** black cat, you · **What happens:** assert, cross, portend, ascertain, assess · **To what, where:** It, path, misfortune, correct assessment, assertion

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 199 «Cat body language and cat myths: milk, nine lives and landing on their feet» of the biology 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/biology/199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet/#e4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* It is asserted that a black cat crossing one's path portends misfortune.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet:e4:1
# text = It is asserted that a black cat crossing one's path portends misfortune.
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	asserted	assert	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
8	crossing	cross	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	acl	_	_
9	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	path	path	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
12	portends	portend	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
13	misfortune	misfortune	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **assert** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **cross** | gerund | a black cat *not said here* | one's path |  |  |  |  | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent path=Patient |
| 3 | **portend** | present | a black cat | misfortune |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 correct assessment of this assertion.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet:e4:2
# text = Ascertain the correct assessment of this assertion.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	correct	correct	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	assessment	assessment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	7	det	_	_
7	assertion	assertion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	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 correct assessment of this assertion |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent assessment=Topic |
| 2 | **assess** |  |  | this assertion |  |  |  |  | nom assessment «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a superstition without any scientific foundation

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet:e4:o1:1
# text = It is a superstition without any scientific foundation
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	superstition	superstition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	without	without	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	det	_	_
7	scientific	scientific	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	foundation	foundation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a superstition |  |  |  | without any scientific foundation | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It applies only to white cats

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet:e4:o2:1
# text = It applies only to white cats
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	applies	apply	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **apply** | present | It | white cats |  |  |  |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cat=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It applies solely to Fridays

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet:e4:o3:1
# text = It applies solely to Fridays
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	applies	apply	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	solely	solely	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	Fridays	Friday	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **apply** | present | It |  |  |  | friday | solely *property* | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is an established scientific fact

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet:e4:o4:1
# text = It is an established scientific fact
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	established	establish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	_
5	scientific	scientific	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	fact	fact	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **establish** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 2 | **is a** | present | It | a established scientific fact |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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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