---
title: Ascertain the appropriate conduct where an elder initially declines… — Talking to the friend's grandparents · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the appropriate conduct where an elder initially declines an offer of assistance. Exam question 3 of lesson 29 «Talking to the friend's grandparents» 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 ch
---

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# Exam question 3 · Talking to the friend's grandparents

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the appropriate conduct where an elder initially declines an offer of assistance.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, elder · **What happens:** ascertain, decline, offer · **To what, where:** appropriate conduct, offer, assistance

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 29 «Talking to the friend's grandparents» 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/29-talking-to-the-friends-grandparents/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:29-talking-to-the-friends-grandparents:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the appropriate conduct where an elder initially declines an offer of assistance.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	appropriate	appropriate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	9	advmod	_	_
6	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	elder	elder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	initially	initially	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	declines	decline	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
10	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	offer	offer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	assistance	assistance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	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 appropriate conduct |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent conduct=Topic |
| 2 | **decline** | present | a elder | a offer of assistance |  |  |  | initially *property* | vn reject-77.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent offer=Theme |
| 3 | **offer** |  |  | assistance |  |  |  |  | nom offer «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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The offer is to be renewed and the help given

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:29-talking-to-the-friends-grandparents:e3:o1:1
# text = The offer is to be renewed and the help given
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	offer	offer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	renewed	renew	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	help	help	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **renew** | present · passive |  | the offer |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **give** | participle | the help |  |  |  |  |  | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The elder is to be reproached for refusing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:29-talking-to-the-friends-grandparents:e3:o2:1
# text = The elder is to be reproached for refusing
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	elder	elder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	reproached	reproach	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
8	refusing	refuse	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reproach** | present · passive |  | the elder |  |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **refuse** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The offer is to be withdrawn forthwith

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:29-talking-to-the-friends-grandparents:e3:o3:1
# text = The offer is to be withdrawn forthwith
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	offer	offer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	withdrawn	withdraw	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	forthwith	forthwith	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **withdraw** | present · passive |  | the offer |  |  |  | forthwith *property* | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The matter is to be referred to the child's parents

```conllu
# sent_id = question:chinese-street:29-talking-to-the-friends-grandparents:e3:o4:1
# text = The matter is to be referred to the child's parents
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	referred	refer	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **refer** | present · passive |  | the matter | the child's parents |  |  |  | vn contribute-13.2 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: subject=Theme to parent=Recipient |

<!-- div src -->

**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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