---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Soft words for hard things: lying and… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the expression "shading the truth"? Exam question 1 of lesson 29 «Soft words for hard things: lying and honesty and drinking and drugs» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the qu
---

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# Exam question 1 · Soft words for hard things: lying and honesty and drinking…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the expression "shading the truth"?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** expression · **What happens:** follow, characteris, shade · **To what, where:** expression, truth

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This is exam question 1 of lesson 29 «Soft words for hard things: lying and honesty and drinking and drugs» 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/29-lying-and-drinking/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:29-lying-and-drinking:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the expression "shading the truth"?
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	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	shading	shade	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	acl	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	truth	truth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	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 |  | the expression |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **shade** *in a quote* | gerund | the expression *not said here* | the truth |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent truth=Beneficiary |

<!-- .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 -->
It denotes truthful speech in darkness

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:29-lying-and-drinking:e1:o1:1
# text = It denotes truthful speech in darkness
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	denotes	denote	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	truthful	truthful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	speech	speech	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	darkness	darkness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **denote** | present | It | truthful speech |  |  |  | in darkness | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Pivot speech=Theme in darkness=Attribute |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It denotes lying to a slight degree

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:29-lying-and-drinking:e1:o2:1
# text = It denotes lying to a slight degree
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	denotes	denote	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	lying	lie	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	xcomp	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	slight	slight	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	degree	degree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **denote** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78 «NP V how S»: agent=Pivot clause=Topic |
| 2 | **lie** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | to a slight degree | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It denotes a drawing executed with shadows

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:29-lying-and-drinking:e1:o3:1
# text = It denotes a drawing executed with shadows
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	denotes	denote	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	drawing	drawing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	executed	execute	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	shadows	shadow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **denote** | present | It | a drawing |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot drawing=Topic |
| 2 | **execute** | participle |  | a drawing *not said here* |  |  |  | with shadows | vn murder-42.1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent with shadow=Instrument |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It denotes the concealment of the sun

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:29-lying-and-drinking:e1:o4:1
# text = It denotes the concealment of the sun
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	denotes	denote	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	concealment	concealment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	sun	sun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **denote** | present | It | the concealment of the sun |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot concealment=Topic |
| 2 | **conceal** |  |  | the sun |  |  |  |  | nom concealment «state transitive»: of=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.

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- ← previous: [Soft words for hard things: lying and…, test 13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/29-lying-and-drinking/t13/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: lying and…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/29-lying-and-drinking/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Soft words for hard things: lying and honesty and drinking and drugs](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/29-lying-and-drinking/)