---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an e… — Soft words for hard things: work, firi… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an economy described as experiencing "negative growth"? Exam question 3 of lesson 21 «Soft words for hard things: work, firing and the economy» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics o
---

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# Exam question 3 · Soft words for hard things: work, firing and the economy

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an economy described as experiencing "negative growth"?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris, describe, experience · **To what, where:** economy, negative growth

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This is exam question 3 of lesson 21 «Soft words for hard things: work, firing and the economy» 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/21-work-firing-and-the-economy/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:21-work-firing-and-the-economy:e3:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an economy described as experiencing "negative growth"?
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	8	obl	_	_
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	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	economy	economy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	described	describe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	acl	_	_
12	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
13	experiencing	experience	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	11	advcl	_	_
14	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	negative	negative	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	growth	growth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	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 economy |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **describe** | participle |  | a economy *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **experience** | gerund |  | negative growth |  |  |  |  | vn sight-30.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer growth=Stimulus |

<!-- .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 -->
Its total output has increased modestly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:21-work-firing-and-the-economy:e3:o1:1
# text = Its total output has increased modestly
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	total	total	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	output	output	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	increased	increase	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	modestly	modestly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **increase** | present · perfect · passive |  | Its total output |  |  |  | modestly *property* | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its prices have risen substantially

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:21-work-firing-and-the-economy:e3:o2:1
# text = Its prices have risen substantially
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	prices	price	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	risen	rise	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	substantially	substantially	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rise** | present · perfect | Its prices |  |  |  |  | substantially *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its growth has been detrimental to the environment

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:21-work-firing-and-the-economy:e3:o3:1
# text = Its growth has been detrimental to the environment
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	growth	growth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	5	cop	_	_
5	detrimental	detrimental	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	environment	environment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present · perfect | Its growth |  |  |  |  | to the environment; detrimental *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **grow** |  | Its *= it* |  |  |  |  |  | nom growth «process intransitive»: poss=agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its total output has diminished

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:21-work-firing-and-the-economy:e3:o4:1
# text = Its total output has diminished
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	total	total	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	output	output	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	diminished	diminish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **diminish** | present · perfect · passive |  | Its total output |  |  |  |  | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=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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