---
title: Ascertain the meaning of the expression "xiǎng jiā" as employed by a… — Hungry, tired, shy, excited · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the meaning of the expression "xiǎng jiā" as employed by a child residing temporarily away from home. Exam question 4 of lesson 17 «Hungry, tired, shy, excited» of the Chinese street course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option
---

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# Exam question 4 · Hungry, tired, shy, excited

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the meaning of the expression "xiǎng jiā" as employed by a child residing temporarily away from home.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, expression, child · **What happens:** ascertain, xiǎng, employ, reside, mean · **To what, where:** meaning, expression

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 17 «Hungry, tired, shy, excited» of the Chinese street 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/chinese-street/17-hungry-tired-shy-excited/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:17-hungry-tired-shy-excited:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the meaning of the expression "xiǎng jiā" as employed by a child residing temporarily away from home.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	meaning	meaning	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	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	xiǎng	xiǎng	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	acl	_	_
9	jiā	jiā	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
12	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	advcl	_	_
13	by	by	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
16	residing	reside	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	15	acl	_	_
17	temporarily	temporarily	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	away	away	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
19	from	from	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	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 meaning of the expression |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **xiǎng** *in a quote* | gerund | the expression *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **employ** | participle | the expression *not said here* |  |  |  |  | by a child | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **reside** | gerund | a child *not said here* |  |  |  |  | away *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **mean** |  |  | the expression |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A wish to purchase a house

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:17-hungry-tired-shy-excited:e4:o1:1
# text = A wish to purchase a house
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	wish	wish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	purchase	purchase	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **purchase** | to-infinitive |  | a house |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset house=Theme |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Homesickness, a longing for home

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:17-hungry-tired-shy-excited:e4:o2:1
# text = Homesickness, a longing for home
1	Homesickness	homesickness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	longing	longing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A desire to eat at once

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:17-hungry-tired-shy-excited:e4:o3:1
# text = A desire to eat at once
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	desire	desire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An intention to telephone a friend

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:17-hungry-tired-shy-excited:e4:o4:1
# text = An intention to telephone a friend
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	intention	intention	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	telephone	telephone	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **telephone** *speech: other* | to-infinitive |  |  | a friend |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent friend=Recipient |

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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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