---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a mn… — How to learn spellings that stick · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a mnemonic? Exam question 4 of lesson 15 «How to learn spellings that stick» of the English 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 · How to learn spellings that stick

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a mnemonic?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** mnemonic

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 15 «How to learn spellings that stick» of the English 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/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick:e4:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a mnemonic?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	mnemonic	mnemonic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | a mnemonic |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | 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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A test administered at the close of each week

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick:e4:o1:1
# text = A test administered at the close of each week
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	administered	administer	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	close	close	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
9	week	week	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **administer** | participle |  | a test *not said here* |  | the close of each week |  |  | vn contribute-13.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A dictionary arranged according to sound rather than spelling, for the use of pupils

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick:e4:o2:1
# text = A dictionary arranged according to sound rather than spelling, for the use of pupils
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dictionary	dictionary	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	arranged	arrange	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	according	accord	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	xcomp	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	sound	sound	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	rather	rather	ADV	RB	ExtPos=CCONJ	9	cc	_	_
8	than	than	ADP	IN	_	7	fixed	_	_
9	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	use	use	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	pupils	pupil	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **arrange** | past | a dictionary |  |  |  |  | for the use of pupils | tree rules |
| 2 | **accord** | gerund | a dictionary *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **sound** | to-infinitive | a dictionary *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 4 | **use** |  |  | pupils |  |  |  |  | nom use «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A rule which governs the spelling of every word

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick:e4:o3:1
# text = A rule which governs the spelling of every word
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	rule	rule	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	4	nsubj	_	_
4	governs	govern	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
9	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **govern** | present | a rule | the spelling of every word |  |  |  |  | vn supervision-95.2.2 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent spelling=Theme |
| 2 | **spell** |  |  | every word |  |  |  |  | nom spelling «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A device to assist the memory, of particular use for exceptionally difficult words

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick:e4:o4:1
# text = A device to assist the memory, of particular use for exceptionally difficult words
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	device	device	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	assist	assist	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	memory	memory	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	particular	particular	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	use	use	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	exceptionally	exceptionally	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	difficult	difficult	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **assist** | to-infinitive |  | the memory |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent memory=Beneficiary |

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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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [How to learn spellings that stick, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/e3/)
- next →: [Reading for pleasure and the reading b…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/16-reading-for-pleasure-and-the-reading-book-at-home/t1/)
- ↑ back to [How to learn spellings that stick](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/15-how-to-learn-spellings-that-stick/)