---
title: A friend gets a failed spelling test back. The teacher says, "Think… — Soft words for hard things: school rep… · tree and pragmatics
description: A friend gets a failed spelling test back. The teacher says, "Think of it as a learning opportunity!" What really happened? Test 10 · ★ of lesson 16 «Soft words for hard things: school reports and teachers» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of
---

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# Test 10 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: school reports and teachers

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A friend gets a failed spelling test back. The teacher says, "Think of it as a learning opportunity!" What really happened?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** friend, teacher · **What happens:** get, fail, say, think, happen · **To what, where:** failed spelling test · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 · ★ of lesson 16 «Soft words for hard things: school reports and teachers» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school. 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/16-school-reports/#t10).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A friend gets a failed spelling test back.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:16-school-reports:t10:1
# text = A friend gets a failed spelling test back.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	gets	get	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	failed	fail	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	amod	_	_
6	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
8	back	back	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | present | a friend | a failed spelling test |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer test=Stimulus |
| 2 | **fail** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* The teacher says, "Think of it as a learning opportunity!"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:16-school-reports:t10:2
# text = The teacher says, "Think of it as a learning opportunity!"
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obl	_	_
9	as	as	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	learning	learning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	opportunity	opportunity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: express* | present | the teacher |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **think** *speech: other* *in a quote* | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | of teacher; as a learning opportunity | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What really happened?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:16-school-reports:t10:3
# text = What really happened?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	really	really	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	happened	happen	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was chosen to teach

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:16-school-reports:t10:o1:1
# text = He was chosen to teach
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	chosen	choose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	teach	teach	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **choose** | past · passive |  | He |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **teach** *speech: other* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He failed the test

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:16-school-reports:t10:o2:1
# text = He failed the test
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	failed	fail	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fail** | past | He | the test |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent test=Eventuality |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He got full marks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:16-school-reports:t10:o3:1
# text = He got full marks
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	full	full	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	marks	mark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | past | He | full marks |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer mark=Stimulus |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He got a free lesson

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:16-school-reports:t10:o4:1
# text = He got a free lesson
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	free	free	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	lesson	lesson	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | past | He | a free lesson |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer lesson=Stimulus |

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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: [Soft words for hard things: school rep…, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/16-school-reports/t9/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: school rep…, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/16-school-reports/t11/)
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