---
title: It is given that an official describes a former statement as "inoper… — Soft words for hard things: politics a… · tree and pragmatics
description: It is given that an official describes a former statement as "inoperative". Select the response consistent with the established usage of the term. Exam question 2 of lesson 25 «Soft words for hard things: politics and government spin and war, the military and violence» of the euphemisms course of Mo
---

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# Exam question 2 · Soft words for hard things: politics and government spin a…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is given that an official describes a former statement as "inoperative". Select the response consistent with the established usage of the term.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** official, you · **What happens:** give, describe, select, establish, use · **To what, where:** It, former statement, response, term

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 25 «Soft words for hard things: politics and government spin and war, the military and violence» 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/25-spin-war-and-violence/#e2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* It is given that an official describes a former statement as "inoperative".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:25-spin-war-and-violence:e2:1
# text = It is given that an official describes a former statement as "inoperative".
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	official	official	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	describes	describe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	former	former	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
11	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
12	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	inoperative	inoperative	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **describe** | present | a official | a former statement |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent statement=Theme |

<!-- .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:* Select the response consistent with the established usage of the term.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:25-spin-war-and-violence:e2:2
# text = Select the response consistent with the established usage of the term.
1	Select	select	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	response	response	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	consistent	consistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	established	establish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
8	usage	usage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	term	term	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **select** | imperative | you *not said here* | the response |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme |
| 2 | **establish** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 3 | **use** |  |  | the term |  |  |  |  | nom usage «act transitive»: of=patient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The former statement was translated

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:25-spin-war-and-violence:e2:o1:1
# text = The former statement was translated
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	former	former	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	translated	translate	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 | **translate** | past · passive |  | the former statement |  |  |  |  | vn turn-26.6.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The former statement was inaudible

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:25-spin-war-and-violence:e2:o2:1
# text = The former statement was inaudible
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	former	former	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	inaudible	inaudible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the former statement |  |  |  |  | inaudible *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The former statement was abbreviated

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:25-spin-war-and-violence:e2:o3:1
# text = The former statement was abbreviated
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	former	former	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	abbreviated	abbreviate	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 | **abbreviate** | past · passive |  | the former statement |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The former statement was untrue

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:25-spin-war-and-violence:e2:o4:1
# text = The former statement was untrue
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	former	former	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	untrue	untrue	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the former statement |  |  |  |  | untrue *property* | tree rules |

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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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