--- title: The boss says: "Losing that million was a learning experience." What… — Soft words for hard things: business a… · tree and pragmatics description: The boss says: "Losing that million was a learning experience." What happened? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 23 «Soft words for hard things: business and advertising and politics and government spin» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question an --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/23-fees-bugs-and-spin/t8/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Euphemisms](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/) / [Soft words for hard things: business a…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/23-fees-bugs-and-spin/) / t8 # Test 8 · ★ · Soft words for hard things: business and advertising and p… The boss says: "Losing that million was a learning experience." What happened? **Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** boss, Losing · **What happens:** say, be, happen · **To what, where:** learning experience · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 23 «Soft words for hard things: business and advertising and politics and government spin» 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/23-fees-bugs-and-spin/#t8). ## The question {#question} *Sentence 1:* The boss says: "Losing that million was a learning experience." ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:23-fees-bugs-and-spin:t8:1 # text = The boss says: "Losing that million was a learning experience." 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 boss boss 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 Losing losing NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 nsubj _ _ 7 that that PRON WDT PronType=Rel 8 nsubj _ _ 8 million million NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 6 nmod _ _ 9 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 12 cop _ _ 10 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 11 learning learning NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 compound _ _ 12 experience experience NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 13 . . PUNCT . _ 12 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 14 " " PUNCT '' _ 12 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | the boss | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | past | Losing million | a learning experience | | | | | tree rules | 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. *Sentence 2:* What happened? ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:23-fees-bugs-and-spin:t8:2 # text = What happened? 1 What what PRON WP PronType=Int 2 nsubj _ _ 2 happened happen VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 3 ? ? PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` | # | 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} The staff went on a course ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:23-fees-bugs-and-spin:t8:o1:1 # text = The staff went on a course 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 staff staff NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 on on ADP IN _ 6 case _ _ 5 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 6 course course NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 obl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **go** | past | the staff | | | a course | | | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme on course=Location | ### Option 2 {#o2} The firm opened a school ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:23-fees-bugs-and-spin:t8:o2:1 # text = The firm opened a school 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 firm firm NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 opened open VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 5 school school NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 obj _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **open** | past | the firm | a school | | | | | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location school=Theme | ### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3} The firm lost a lot of money ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:23-fees-bugs-and-spin:t8:o3:1 # text = The firm lost a lot of money 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 firm firm NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 lost lose VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 5 lot lot NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 obj _ _ 6 of of ADP IN _ 7 case _ _ 7 money money NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 nmod _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **lose** | past | the firm | a lot of money | | | | | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lot=Eventuality | ### Option 4 {#o4} The firm won a prize ```conllu # sent_id = question:euphemisms:23-fees-bugs-and-spin:t8:o4:1 # text = The firm won a prize 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 firm firm NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 won win VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 5 prize prize NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 obj _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **win** | past | the firm | a prize | | | | | vn succeed-74-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent prize=Eventuality | **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. 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