---
title: Where a school report states that a pupil is "more practical than ac… — Soft words for hard things: stupidity… · tree and pragmatics
description: Where a school report states that a pupil is "more practical than academic", ascertain the principal assessment conveyed. Exam question 2 of lesson 36 «Soft words for hard things: stupidity and madness» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the
---

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# Exam question 2 · Soft words for hard things: stupidity and madness

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Where a school report states that a pupil is "more practical than academic", ascertain the principal assessment conveyed.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** pupil, report states · **What happens:** be, ascertain, convey · **To what, where:** principal assessment

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 36 «Soft words for hard things: stupidity and madness» 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/36-dim-and-round-the-bend/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:e2:1
# text = Where a school report states that a pupil is "more practical than academic", ascertain the principal assessment conveyed.
1	Where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	17	advmod	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
3	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	report	report	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	states	state	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	nsubj	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
10	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	12	advmod	_	_
12	practical	practical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	advcl	_	_
13	than	than	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	academic	academic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
17	ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	assessment	assessment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	_
21	conveyed	convey	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	20	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	17	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | present | a pupil |  |  |  |  | than academic; practical *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **ascertain** | infinitive | a report states | the principal assessment |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent assessment=Topic |
| 3 | **convey** | participle |  | the principal assessment *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: 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 -->
The pupil declines to undertake practical tasks of any kind

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:e2:o1:1
# text = The pupil declines to undertake practical tasks of any kind
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	declines	decline	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	undertake	undertake	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	practical	practical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	tasks	task	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	10	det	_	_
10	kind	kind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **decline** | present | the pupil |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **undertake** | to-infinitive | the pupil *not said here* | practical tasks of any kind |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent task=Eventuality |
| 3 | **task** |  |  | any kind |  |  |  |  | nom task «act transitive»: of=patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pupil experiences difficulty with academic work but possesses manual aptitude

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:e2:o2:1
# text = The pupil experiences difficulty with academic work but possesses manual aptitude
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	experiences	experience	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	difficulty	difficulty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	academic	academic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	possesses	possess	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
10	manual	manual	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	aptitude	aptitude	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **experience** | present | the pupil | difficulty |  |  |  | with academic work | vn sight-30.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer difficulty=Stimulus |
| 2 | **possess** | present | the pupil *not said here* | manual aptitude |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot aptitude=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pupil excels in all academic subjects without exception

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:e2:o3:1
# text = The pupil excels in all academic subjects without exception
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	excels	excel	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
6	academic	academic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	subjects	subject	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
8	without	without	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	exception	exception	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **excel** | present | the pupil |  |  | all academic subjects without exception |  |  | vn succeed-74-1 «NP V PP.eventuality S\_ING»: agent=Agent in subject=Eventuality |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pupil attends school on an irregular basis

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:36-dim-and-round-the-bend:e2:o4:1
# text = The pupil attends school on an irregular basis
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	attends	attend	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	irregular	irregular	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	basis	basis	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **attend** | present | the pupil | school |  | a irregular basis |  |  | vn attend-107.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme school=Goal |

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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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