---
title: Which phrase best characterises the puppet-man's own assessment of h… — Andersen's Tales, The Puppet-Showman:… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which phrase best characterises the puppet-man's own assessment of his present state? Exam question 3 of lesson 955 «Andersen's Tales, The Puppet-Showman: a puppet-man wishes his dolls alive and learns to be content» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmati
---

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# Exam question 3 · Andersen's Tales, The Puppet-Showman: a puppet-man wishes…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which phrase best characterises the puppet-man's own assessment of his present state?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** phrase, puppet man · **What happens:** characteris, assess · **To what, where:** own assessment, present state

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 955 «Andersen's Tales, The Puppet-Showman: a puppet-man wishes his dolls alive and learns to be content» of the books 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/books/955-pg27200-part166/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:955-pg27200-part166:e3:1
# text = Which phrase best characterises the puppet-man's own assessment of his present state?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	phrase	phrase	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	best	well	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	4	advmod	_	_
4	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	puppet	puppet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	assessment	assessment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
14	present	present	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	state	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **characteris** | present | which phrase | the puppet man's own assessment of phrase's present state |  |  |  | well *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **assess** |  | the puppet man | phrase's present state |  |  |  |  | nom assessment «cognition transitive»: poss=agent of=patient |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He describes himself as a weary and unlucky traveller

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:955-pg27200-part166:e3:o1:1
# text = He describes himself as a weary and unlucky traveller
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	describes	describe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	2	obj	_	_
4	as	as	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
6	weary	weary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	unlucky	unlucky	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	conj	_	_
9	traveller	traveller	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **describe** | present | He | himself *= he* |  |  |  | as a weary traveller | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent himself=Theme as traveller=Attribute |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He describes himself as a reluctant and indifferent director

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:955-pg27200-part166:e3:o2:1
# text = He describes himself as a reluctant and indifferent director
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	describes	describe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	2	obj	_	_
4	as	as	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
6	reluctant	reluctant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	indifferent	indifferent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	conj	_	_
9	director	director	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **describe** | present | He | himself *= he* |  |  |  | as a reluctant director | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent himself=Theme as director=Attribute |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He describes himself as a man of modest means

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:955-pg27200-part166:e3:o3:1
# text = He describes himself as a man of modest means
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	describes	describe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	2	obj	_	_
4	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	modest	modest	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	nmod	_	_
9	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **describe** | present | He | himself *= he* |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent himself=Theme |
| 2 | **mean** | present | a man of modest |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He describes himself as the happiest man in the world

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:955-pg27200-part166:e3:o4:1
# text = He describes himself as the happiest man in the world
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	describes	describe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	2	obj	_	_
4	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	happiest	happy	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	7	amod	_	_
7	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	world	world	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **describe** | present | He | himself *= he* |  |  |  | as the happiest man in the world | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent himself=Theme as man=Attribute |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Andersen's Tales, The Puppet-Showman:…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/955-pg27200-part166/e2/)
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