---
title: Ascertain the referent of the phrase "the good book" as customarily… — Soft words for hard things: religion a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the referent of the phrase "the good book" as customarily employed in English-speaking communities. Exam question 4 of lesson 32 «Soft words for hard things: religion and fate and failure and mistakes» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmati
---

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# Exam question 4 · Soft words for hard things: religion and fate and failure…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the referent of the phrase "the good book" as customarily employed in English-speaking communities.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, employ, speak · **To what, where:** referent, speaking communities · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 32 «Soft words for hard things: religion and fate and failure and mistakes» 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/32-religion-fate-failure/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:32-religion-fate-failure:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the referent of the phrase "the good book" as customarily employed in English-speaking communities.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	referent	referent	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	phrase	phrase	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
12	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
13	customarily	customarily	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	advcl	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
16	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	18	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	speaking	speak	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	19	amod	_	_
19	communities	community	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	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 referent of the phrase |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent referent=Topic |
| 2 | **employ** | participle | you *not said here* |  |  | speaking communities |  | customarily *property* | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **speak** *speech: other* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
A ledger of charitable donations

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:32-religion-fate-failure:e4:o1:1
# text = A ledger of charitable donations
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ledger	ledger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	charitable	charitable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	donations	donation	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Bible

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:32-religion-fate-failure:e4:o2:1
# text = The Bible
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Bible	Bible	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A volume of exemplary moral fiction

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:32-religion-fate-failure:e4:o3:1
# text = A volume of exemplary moral fiction
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	volume	volume	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	exemplary	exemplary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
5	moral	moral	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	fiction	fiction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A dictionary approved by the examination board

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:32-religion-fate-failure:e4:o4:1
# text = A dictionary approved by the examination board
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dictionary	dictionary	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	approved	approve	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	examination	examination	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	board	board	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **approve** | participle |  | a dictionary *not said here* |  |  |  | by the examination board | vn marvel-31.3 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

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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: religion a…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/32-religion-fate-failure/e3/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: failure an…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/33-failure-and-mistakes/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Soft words for hard things: religion and fate and failure and mistakes](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/32-religion-fate-failure/)