---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Soft words for hard things: drinking a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the expression "the hard stuff"? Exam question 1 of lesson 30 «Soft words for hard things: drinking and drugs» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option
---

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# Exam question 1 · Soft words for hard things: drinking and drugs

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

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

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This is exam question 1 of lesson 30 «Soft words for hard things: 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/30-drinking-and-drugs/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:30-drinking-and-drugs:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the expression "the hard stuff"?
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	``	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	stuff	stuff	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	14	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 |

<!-- .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 rock and stone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:30-drinking-and-drugs:e1:o1:1
# text = It denotes rock and stone
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	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **denote** | present | It | rock and stone |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot rock=Topic |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It denotes strong spirits such as whisky or vodka

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:30-drinking-and-drugs:e1:o2:1
# text = It denotes strong spirits such as whisky or vodka
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	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	spirits	spirit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	7	case	_	_
6	as	as	ADP	IN	_	5	fixed	_	_
7	whisky	whisky	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	vodka	vodka	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **denote** | present | It | strong spirits |  |  |  | such whisky or vodka | vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot spirit=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It denotes difficult examinations set at the end of the year

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:30-drinking-and-drugs:e1:o3:1
# text = It denotes difficult examinations set at the end of the year
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	difficult	difficult	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	examinations	examination	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	set	set	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	end	end	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **denote** | present | It | difficult examinations |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot examination=Topic |
| 2 | **set** | participle |  | difficult examinations *not said here* |  |  | at the end of the year |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent at end=Destination |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It denotes tough cuts of meat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:30-drinking-and-drugs:e1:o4:1
# text = It denotes tough cuts of meat
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	tough	tough	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	cuts	cut	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	meat	meat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **denote** | present | It | tough cuts of meat |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot cut=Topic |

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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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