---
title: It is given that a commander reports that a target was "serviced". A… — Soft words for hard things: war, the m… · tree and pragmatics
description: It is given that a commander reports that a target was "serviced". Ascertain what occurred. Exam question 4 of lesson 26 «Soft words for hard things: war, the military and violence» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each
---

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# Exam question 4 · Soft words for hard things: war, the military and violence

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is given that a commander reports that a target was "serviced". Ascertain what occurred.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** commander, you · **What happens:** give, report, service, ascertain, occur · **To what, where:** It, target · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 26 «Soft words for hard things: 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/26-war-and-the-military/#e4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* It is given that a commander reports that a target was "serviced".

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:26-war-and-the-military:e4:1
# text = It is given that a commander reports that a target was "serviced".
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	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	commander	commander	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	reports	report	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	target	target	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux:pass	_	_
12	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	serviced	service	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	ccomp	_	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 | **report** | present | a commander |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **service** *in a quote* | past · passive |  | a target |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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:* Ascertain what occurred.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:26-war-and-the-military:e4:2
# text = Ascertain what occurred.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
3	occurred	occur	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **occur** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The target was inspected

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:26-war-and-the-military:e4:o1:1
# text = The target was inspected
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	target	target	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	inspected	inspect	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 | **inspect** | past · passive |  | the target |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The target was supplied with provisions

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:26-war-and-the-military:e4:o2:1
# text = The target was supplied with provisions
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	target	target	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	supplied	supply	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	provisions	provision	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **supply** | past · passive |  | the target |  |  |  | with provisions | vn fulfilling-13.4.1-1 «NP V NP-Fulfilling PP.theme»: subject=Recipient with provision=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The target was repaired

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:26-war-and-the-military:e4:o3:1
# text = The target was repaired
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	target	target	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	repaired	repair	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 | **repair** | past · passive |  | the target |  |  |  |  | vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The target was bombed or destroyed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:26-war-and-the-military:e4:o4:1
# text = The target was bombed or destroyed
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	target	target	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	bombed	bomb	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	destroyed	destroy	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bomb** | past · passive |  | the target |  |  |  |  | vn attack-60.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **destroy** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

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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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