---
title: Select the response that most accurately characterises a rebuttal. — Debating and discussion · tree and pragmatics
description: Select the response that most accurately characterises a rebuttal. Exam question 2 of lesson 49 «Debating and discussion» 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 right.
---

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# Exam question 2 · Debating and discussion

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Select the response that most accurately characterises a rebuttal.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, most · **What happens:** select, characteris · **To what, where:** response, rebuttal

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 49 «Debating and discussion» 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/49-debating-and-discussion/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:49-debating-and-discussion:e2:1
# text = Select the response that most accurately characterises a rebuttal.
1	Select	select	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	response	response	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	7	nsubj	_	_
6	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	rebuttal	rebuttal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **select** | imperative | you *not said here* | the response |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present | most | a rebuttal |  |  |  |  | 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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A direct reply to an opposing point

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:49-debating-and-discussion:e2:o1:1
# text = A direct reply to an opposing point
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	direct	direct	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	reply	reply	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	opposing	oppose	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	amod	_	_
7	point	point	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **oppose** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A restatement of one's own opening

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:49-debating-and-discussion:e2:o2:1
# text = A restatement of one's own opening
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	restatement	restatement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	one	one	PRON	PRP	Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	opening	opening	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **restate** |  |  | one's own opening |  |  |  |  | nom restatement «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A unanimous vote at the conclusion

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:49-debating-and-discussion:e2:o3:1
# text = A unanimous vote at the conclusion
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	unanimous	unanimous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	vote	vote	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	conclusion	conclusion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A complaint lodged with the chair

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:49-debating-and-discussion:e2:o4:1
# text = A complaint lodged with the chair
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	complaint	complaint	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	lodged	lodge	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	chair	chair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lodge** | participle |  | a complaint *not said here* |  |  |  | with the chair | vn odge-46-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme with chair=Location |

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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.

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- ← previous: [Debating and discussion, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/49-debating-and-discussion/e1/)
- next →: [Debating and discussion, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/49-debating-and-discussion/e3/)
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