---
title: Ascertain the meaning of the expression "pre-need arrangements" as e… — Soft words for hard things: death and… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the meaning of the expression "pre-need arrangements" as employed in commercial funeral literature. Exam question 4 of lesson 3 «Soft words for hard things: death and dying, illness and the body» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of 
---

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# Exam question 4 · Soft words for hard things: death and dying, illness and t…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the meaning of the expression "pre-need arrangements" as employed in commercial funeral literature.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, employ, mean · **To what, where:** meaning, commercial funeral literature, expression

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 3 «Soft words for hard things: death and dying, illness and the body» 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/3-death-and-feeling-poorly/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:3-death-and-feeling-poorly:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the meaning of the expression "pre-need arrangements" as employed in commercial funeral literature.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	pre-need	pre-need	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	arrangements	arrangement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
12	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	advcl	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	commercial	commercial	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
15	funeral	funeral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	_
16	literature	literature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the meaning of the expression |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **employ** | participle | you *not said here* |  |  | commercial funeral literature |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **mean** |  |  | the expression |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
Arrangements for a medical procedure

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:3-death-and-feeling-poorly:e4:o1:1
# text = Arrangements for a medical procedure
1	Arrangements	arrangement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
2	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	medical	medical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	procedure	procedure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Preparations made before a storm

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:3-death-and-feeling-poorly:e4:o2:1
# text = Preparations made before a storm
1	Preparations	preparation	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
2	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	acl	_	_
3	before	before	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	storm	storm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | participle |  | Preparations *not said here* |  |  | before a storm |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Payment for one's own funeral in advance

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:3-death-and-feeling-poorly:e4:o3:1
# text = Payment for one's own funeral in advance
1	Payment	payment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
3	one	one	PRON	PRP	Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	funeral	funeral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	advance	advance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Provisions for the needs of children

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:3-death-and-feeling-poorly:e4:o4:1
# text = Provisions for the needs of children
1	Provisions	provision	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
2	for	for	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	needs	need	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **need** |  |  | children |  |  |  |  | nom need «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: death and…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/3-death-and-feeling-poorly/e3/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: illness, d…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Soft words for hard things: death and dying, illness and the body](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/3-death-and-feeling-poorly/)