---
title: Ascertain which of the following is consistent with the conduct of a… — Debating and discussion · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain which of the following is consistent with the conduct of a good thinker in discussion. Exam question 4 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 4 · Debating and discussion

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain which of the following is consistent with the conduct of a good thinker in discussion.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, follow, be, conduct · **To what, where:** good thinker

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This is exam question 4 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/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:49-debating-and-discussion:e4:1
# text = Ascertain which of the following is consistent with the conduct of a good thinker in discussion.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	consistent	consistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	ccomp	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	thinker	thinker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	discussion	discussion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	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 |
| 2 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | with the conduct of a good thinker in discussion; consistent *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **conduct** |  |  | a good thinker in discussion |  |  |  |  | nom conduct «act 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Disregarding the opposing side entirely

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:49-debating-and-discussion:e4:o1:1
# text = Disregarding the opposing side entirely
1	Disregarding	disregard	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	opposing	oppose	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	amod	_	_
4	side	side	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **disregard** | gerund |  | the opposing side |  |  |  | entirely *property* | vn neglect-75.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent side=Theme |
| 2 | **oppose** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Maintaining one's view regardless of all reasons

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:49-debating-and-discussion:e4:o2:1
# text = Maintaining one's view regardless of all reasons
1	Maintaining	maintain	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	view	view	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	regardless	regardless	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
8	reasons	reason	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **maintain** | gerund |  | one's view |  |  |  | regardless *property* | vn declare-29.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent view=Theme |
| 2 | **view** |  | one |  |  |  |  |  | nom view «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Revising one's view upon hearing a better reason

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:49-debating-and-discussion:e4:o3:1
# text = Revising one's view upon hearing a better reason
1	Revising	revise	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	view	view	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	upon	upon	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	hearing	hear	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	advcl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	9	amod	_	_
9	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **revise** | gerund |  | one's view |  |  |  |  | vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent view=Patient |
| 2 | **hear** | gerund |  | a better reason |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer reason=Stimulus |
| 3 | **view** |  | one |  |  |  |  |  | nom view «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Interrupting opponents so as to save time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:49-debating-and-discussion:e4:o4:1
# text = Interrupting opponents so as to save time
1	Interrupting	interrupt	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	csubj	_	_
2	opponents	opponent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
3	so	so	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
4	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	save	save	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **interrupt** | gerund |  | opponents |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **save** | to-infinitive | Interrupting |  |  |  | time |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

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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: [Debating and discussion, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/49-debating-and-discussion/e3/)
- next →: [Listening: following talk, asking good…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/50-listening-following-talk-asking-good-questions/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Debating and discussion](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/49-debating-and-discussion/)