---
title: Ascertain which of the following most accurately characterises nervo… — Spoken language: presenting and show-a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain which of the following most accurately characterises nervousness prior to a presentation. Exam question 4 of lesson 48 «Spoken language: presenting and show-and-tell» of the English 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 · Spoken language: presenting and show-and-tell

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain which of the following most accurately characterises nervousness prior to a presentation.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, follow, characteris · **To what, where:** nervousness

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 48 «Spoken language: presenting and show-and-tell» 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/48-spoken-language-presenting-and-show-and-tell/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:48-spoken-language-presenting-and-show-and-tell:e4:1
# text = Ascertain which of the following most accurately characterises nervousness prior to a presentation.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	ccomp	_	_
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	5	advcl	_	_
9	nervousness	nervousness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
10	prior	prior	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	presentation	presentation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	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* |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **characteris** | present |  | nervousness |  |  |  | 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 -->
It is confined to young children

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:48-spoken-language-presenting-and-show-and-tell:e4:o1:1
# text = It is confined to young children
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	confined	confine	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	young	young	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confine** | present · passive |  | It | young children |  |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme to child=Destination |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is normal, even among adults

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:48-spoken-language-presenting-and-show-and-tell:e4:o2:1
# text = It is normal, even among adults
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	normal	normal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	even	even	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
6	among	among	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	adults	adult	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | among adults; normal *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It afflicts only the unprepared

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:48-spoken-language-presenting-and-show-and-tell:e4:o3:1
# text = It afflicts only the unprepared
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	afflicts	afflict	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	unprepared	unprepar	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **afflict** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **unprepar** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It indicates an absence of ability

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:48-spoken-language-presenting-and-show-and-tell:e4:o4:1
# text = It indicates an absence of ability
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	indicates	indicate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	absence	absence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	ability	ability	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **indicate** | present | It | a absence of ability |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot absence=Topic |
| 2 | **absent** |  |  | ability |  |  |  |  | nom absence «state transitive»: of=patient |

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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: [Spoken language: presenting and show-a…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/48-spoken-language-presenting-and-show-and-tell/e3/)
- next →: [Debating and discussion, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/49-debating-and-discussion/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Spoken language: presenting and show-and-tell](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/48-spoken-language-presenting-and-show-and-tell/)