---
title: Identify the instance of British understatement among the following. — Olympiad: reading between the lines ★★★ · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the instance of British understatement among the following. Exam question 4 of lesson 42 «Olympiad: reading between the lines ★★★» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was right.
---

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# Exam question 4 · Olympiad: reading between the lines ★★★

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the instance of British understatement among the following.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, follow, instance · **To what, where:** instance, British understatement

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 42 «Olympiad: reading between the lines ★★★» 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/42-olympiad-reading-between-the-lines/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:42-olympiad-reading-between-the-lines:e4:1
# text = Identify the instance of British understatement among the following.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	instance	instance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	British	British	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	understatement	understatement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	among	among	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	following	follow	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the instance of British understatement |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent instance=Theme |
| 2 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **instance** |  |  | British understatement |  |  |  |  | nom instance «event 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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"Not ideal", said of a flooded kitchen

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:42-olympiad-reading-between-the-lines:e4:o1:1
# text = "Not ideal", said of a flooded kitchen
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	ideal	ideal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
6	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	flooded	flood	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	amod	_	_
10	kitchen	kitchen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past |  |  |  |  |  | of a flooded kitchen | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **flood** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"A ton", said of a heavy shopping bag

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:42-olympiad-reading-between-the-lines:e4:o2:1
# text = "A ton", said of a heavy shopping bag
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	ton	ton	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
6	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
9	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
10	shopping	shopping	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	bag	bag	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | a ton |  |  |  |  | of a heavy shopping bag | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"Forever", said of a ten-minute wait

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:42-olympiad-reading-between-the-lines:e4:o3:1
# text = "Forever", said of a ten-minute wait
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Forever	forever	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
8	ten	ten	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	minute	minute	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	wait	wait	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past |  |  |  |  |  | of a minute wait; forever *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"Starving", said an hour before lunch

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:42-olympiad-reading-between-the-lines:e4:o4:1
# text = "Starving", said an hour before lunch
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Starving	starve	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
5	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	hour	hour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	before	before	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	lunch	lunch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **starve** *in a quote* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | a hour |  |  |  | before lunch; hour |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=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.

<!-- /div -->

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