---
title: Whereas a financial bulletin reports "a correction" in share prices,… — Soft words for hard things: failure an… · tree and pragmatics
description: Whereas a financial bulletin reports "a correction" in share prices, which of the following statements most accurately characterises the event? Exam question 2 of lesson 33 «Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree 
---

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# Exam question 2 · Soft words for hard things: failure and mistakes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Whereas a financial bulletin reports "a correction" in share prices, which of the following statements most accurately characterises the event?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** correction · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** event

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 33 «Soft words for hard things: 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/33-failure-and-mistakes/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:33-failure-and-mistakes:e2:1
# text = Whereas a financial bulletin reports "a correction" in share prices, which of the following statements most accurately characterises the event?
1	Whereas	whereas	SCONJ	IN	_	5	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
3	financial	financial	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
4	bulletin	bulletin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	reports	report	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	obl	_	_
6	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	correction	correction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	share	share	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	prices	price	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
14	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	18	nsubj	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	18	amod	_	_
18	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	conj	_	_
19	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	20	advmod	_	_
20	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
21	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	event	event	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	21	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 | a correction in share prices and the following statements | the event |  |  |  | whereas a financial bulletin reports | 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 -->
Errors in the published figures were rectified

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:33-failure-and-mistakes:e2:o1:1
# text = Errors in the published figures were rectified
1	Errors	error	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	published	publish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	amod	_	_
5	figures	figure	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
6	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	rectified	rectify	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 | **publish** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **rectify** | past · passive |  | Errors in the published figures |  |  |  |  | vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Share prices rose to an unprecedented level

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:33-failure-and-mistakes:e2:o2:1
# text = Share prices rose to an unprecedented level
1	Share	share	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	compound	_	_
2	prices	price	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	rose	rise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	unprecedented	unprecedented	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	level	level	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **share** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **rise** | past | Share prices |  |  | a unprecedented level |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to level=Initial\_Location |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Share prices declined sharply

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:33-failure-and-mistakes:e2:o3:1
# text = Share prices declined sharply
1	Share	share	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	prices	price	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	declined	decline	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
4	sharply	sharply	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **share** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **decline** | past | prices |  |  |  |  | sharply *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Trading was suspended for administrative reasons

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:33-failure-and-mistakes:e2:o4:1
# text = Trading was suspended for administrative reasons
1	Trading	trading	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	suspended	suspend	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	administrative	administrative	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	reasons	reason	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **suspend** | past · passive |  | Trading |  |  |  | for administrative reasons | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

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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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