---
title: Identify the principal means by which a reader may determine the mea… — Vocabulary in context · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal means by which a reader may determine the meaning of an unfamiliar word without recourse to a dictionary. Exam question 1 of lesson 20 «Vocabulary in context» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each op
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/20-vocabulary-in-context/e1/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/) / [Vocabulary in context](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/20-vocabulary-in-context/) / e1

# Exam question 1 · Vocabulary in context

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal means by which a reader may determine the meaning of an unfamiliar word without recourse to a dictionary.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, principal, reader · **What happens:** identify, mean, determine · **To what, where:** meaning, unfamiliar word · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 20 «Vocabulary in context» 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/20-vocabulary-in-context/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:20-vocabulary-in-context:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal means by which a reader may determine the meaning of an unfamiliar word without recourse to a dictionary.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	obl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	reader	reader	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
9	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	determine	determine	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	unfamiliar	unfamiliar	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
17	without	without	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	recourse	recourse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	_
19	to	to	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	dictionary	dictionary	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **mean** | present | the principal |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **determine** | may | a reader | the meaning of a unfamiliar word without recourse to a dictionary |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 4 | **mean** |  |  | a unfamiliar word without recourse to a dictionary |  |  |  |  | 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 -->
Reference to the length of the word alone, longer words generally denoting larger things

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:20-vocabulary-in-context:e1:o1:1
# text = Reference to the length of the word alone, longer words generally denoting larger things
1	Reference	reference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	to	to	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	length	length	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	longer	long	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	11	amod	_	_
11	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	conj	_	_
12	generally	generally	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	denoting	denote	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	parataxis	_	_
14	larger	large	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	15	amod	_	_
15	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **denote** | gerund |  | larger things |  |  |  | generally *property* | vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot thing=Topic |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Omission of the sentence altogether

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:20-vocabulary-in-context:e1:o2:1
# text = Omission of the sentence altogether
1	Omission	omission	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
5	altogether	altogether	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **omit** |  |  | the sentence |  |  |  |  | nom omission «act transitive»: of=patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Consideration of the context in which it appears

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:20-vocabulary-in-context:e1:o3:1
# text = Consideration of the context in which it appears
1	Consideration	consideration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	context	context	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obl	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	appears	appear	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **appear** | present | it |  |  | the context |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in which=Location |
| 2 | **consider** |  |  | the context |  |  |  |  | nom consideration «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Examination of the book's cover

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:20-vocabulary-in-context:e1:o4:1
# text = Examination of the book's cover
1	Examination	examination	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	cover	cover	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **examine** |  |  | the book's cover |  |  |  |  | nom examination «act transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Vocabulary in context, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/20-vocabulary-in-context/t10/)
- next →: [Vocabulary in context, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/20-vocabulary-in-context/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Vocabulary in context](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/20-vocabulary-in-context/)