---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a pa… — Soft words for hard things: children's… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a parent's description of a child as "a free spirit"? Exam question 4 of lesson 15 «Soft words for hard things: children's behaviour and school reports and teachers» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency
---

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# Exam question 4 · Soft words for hard things: children's behaviour and schoo…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a parent's description of a child as "a free spirit"?

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

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 15 «Soft words for hard things: children's behaviour and school reports and teachers» of the euphemisms 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/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:15-behaviour-and-school-reports:e4:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a parent's description of a child as "a free spirit"?
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	1	nmod	_	_
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	parent	parent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	description	description	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
16	as	as	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
17	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	free	free	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	spirit	spirit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	?	?	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 parent's description of a child |  |  |  | as a free spirit; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **describe** |  | a parent | a child |  |  |  |  | nom description «communication transitive»: poss=agent 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 -->
The child prefers solitude to company

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:15-behaviour-and-school-reports:e4:o1:1
# text = The child prefers solitude to company
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	prefers	prefer	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	solitude	solitude	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	company	company	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prefer** | present | the child | solitude |  |  |  | to company | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer solitude=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The child professes belief in apparitions

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:15-behaviour-and-school-reports:e4:o2:1
# text = The child professes belief in apparitions
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	professes	profess	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	belief	belief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	apparitions	apparition	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **profess** | present | the child | belief |  | apparitions |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1-2 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent belief=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The child is provided without charge

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:15-behaviour-and-school-reports:e4:o3:1
# text = The child is provided without charge
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	provided	provide	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	without	without	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	charge	charge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **provide** | present · passive |  | the child |  |  |  | without charge | vn ensure-99 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The child does not readily conform to rules

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:15-behaviour-and-school-reports:e4:o4:1
# text = The child does not readily conform to rules
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
5	readily	readily	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	conform	conform	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **conform** | present · do-support | the child |  |  |  |  | to rules *goal*; readily *property* | vn adjust-26.9 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent to rule=Goal |

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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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