---
title: Ascertain the meaning of the custom designated "shǒusuì". — Spring Festival — Chinese New Year · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the meaning of the custom designated "shǒusuì". Exam question 4 of lesson 25 «Spring Festival — Chinese New Year» of the Chinese street course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Exam question 4 · Spring Festival — Chinese New Year

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the meaning of the custom designated "shǒusuì".

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, custom · **What happens:** ascertain, designate, mean · **To what, where:** meaning, shǒusuì, custom

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 25 «Spring Festival — Chinese New Year» 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/25-spring-festival/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:25-spring-festival:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the meaning of the custom designated "shǒusuì".
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	custom	custom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	designated	designate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	shǒusuì	shǒusuì	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	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 custom |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **designate** | participle | the custom *not said here* | shǒusuì |  |  |  |  | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shǒusuì=Theme |
| 3 | **mean** |  |  | the custom |  |  |  |  | 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 -->
Visiting the graves of ancestors

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:25-spring-festival:e4:o1:1
# text = Visiting the graves of ancestors
1	Visiting	visit	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	graves	grave	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	ancestors	ancestor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **visit** | gerund |  | the graves of ancestors |  |  |  |  | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent grave=Co-Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Abstaining from food on New Year's Day until nightfall

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:25-spring-festival:e4:o2:1
# text = Abstaining from food on New Year's Day until nightfall
1	Abstaining	abstain	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	from	from	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
5	New	New	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	Year	Year	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	Day	Day	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
9	until	until	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	nightfall	nightfall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **abstain** | gerund |  |  |  | food on New Year's Day | until nightfall |  | vn refrain-69 «NP V PP.theme S\_ING»: agent=Agent from food=Eventuality |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Remaining awake to witness the arrival of the New Year

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:25-spring-festival:e4:o3:1
# text = Remaining awake to witness the arrival of the New Year
1	Remaining	remain	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	awake	awake	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	witness	witness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	arrival	arrival	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	New	New	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	Year	Year	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remain** | gerund |  | awake witness |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **arrive** |  | the New Year |  |  |  |  |  | nom arrival «act intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Racing boats upon a river

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:25-spring-festival:e4:o4:1
# text = Racing boats upon a river
1	Racing	racing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	boats	boat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
3	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

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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: [Spring Festival — Chinese New Year, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/25-spring-festival/e3/)
- next →: [Red envelopes and New Year wishes, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/26-red-envelopes-and-new-year-wishes/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Spring Festival — Chinese New Year](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/chinese-street/25-spring-festival/)