---
title: It is reported that a pupil "was sick in the corridor" in British us… — Soft words for hard things: the toilet… · tree and pragmatics
description: It is reported that a pupil "was sick in the corridor" in British usage. Ascertain what occurred. Exam question 2 of lesson 7 «Soft words for hard things: the toilet and bodily functions» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and o
---

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# Exam question 2 · Soft words for hard things: the toilet and bodily functions

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is reported that a pupil "was sick in the corridor" in British usage. Ascertain what occurred.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** pupil, you · **What happens:** report, be, ascertain, occur · **To what, where:** It, corridor

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 7 «Soft words for hard things: the toilet and bodily functions» 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/7-wind-sick-and-runs/#e2).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* It is reported that a pupil "was sick in the corridor" in British usage.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:7-wind-sick-and-runs:e2:1
# text = It is reported that a pupil "was sick in the corridor" in British usage.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	reported	report	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	sick	sick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	corridor	corridor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	British	British	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	usage	usage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **report** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn prosecute-33.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | past | a pupil |  |  | the corridor in British usage |  | sick *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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Ascertain what occurred.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:7-wind-sick-and-runs:e2:2
# text = Ascertain what occurred.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
3	occurred	occur	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **occur** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pupil was absent through illness

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:7-wind-sick-and-runs:e2:o1:1
# text = The pupil was absent through illness
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	absent	absent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	through	through	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	illness	illness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the pupil |  |  | illness |  | absent *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pupil felt unwell

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:7-wind-sick-and-runs:e2:o2:1
# text = The pupil felt unwell
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	felt	feel	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	unwell	unwell	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **feel** | past | the pupil |  |  |  |  | unwell *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pupil vomited

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:7-wind-sick-and-runs:e2:o3:1
# text = The pupil vomited
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	vomited	vomit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **vomit** | past | the pupil |  |  |  |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pupil was found to have a fever

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:7-wind-sick-and-runs:e2:o4:1
# text = The pupil was found to have a fever
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	found	find	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	fever	fever	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **find** | past · passive |  | the pupil |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Attribute clause=Theme |
| 2 | **have** | to-infinitive | the pupil *not said here* | a fever |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fever=Patient |

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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: the toilet…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/7-wind-sick-and-runs/e1/)
- next →: [Soft words for hard things: the toilet…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/7-wind-sick-and-runs/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Soft words for hard things: the toilet and bodily functions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/7-wind-sick-and-runs/)