---
title: Whereas an American text describes a person as "homely", determine w… — Soft words for hard things: age and lo… · tree and pragmatics
description: Whereas an American text describes a person as "homely", determine which of the following most accurately characterises that person. Exam question 4 of lesson 9 «Soft words for hard things: age and looks and weight» of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and prag
---

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# Exam question 4 · Soft words for hard things: age and looks and weight

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Whereas an American text describes a person as "homely", determine which of the following most accurately characterises that person.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** American text, you · **What happens:** describe, determine, follow, characteris · **To what, where:** person

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 9 «Soft words for hard things: age and looks and weight» 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/9-age-looks-and-size/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:9-age-looks-and-size:e4:1
# text = Whereas an American text describes a person as "homely", determine which of the following most accurately characterises that person.
1	Whereas	whereas	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	American	American	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	text	text	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	describes	describe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	advcl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
9	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	homely	homely	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
13	determine	determine	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
14	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	20	nsubj	_	_
15	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	20	mark	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
17	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	20	csubj	_	_
18	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	19	advmod	_	_
19	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
20	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	ccomp	_	_
21	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	22	det	_	_
22	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **describe** | present | a American text | a person |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent person=Theme |
| 2 | **determine** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **characteris** | present |  | that person |  |  |  | accurately *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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Warm and hospitable

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:9-age-looks-and-size:e4:o1:1
# text = Warm and hospitable
1	Warm	warm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	hospitable	hospitable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	conj	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fond of remaining at home in the evenings

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:9-age-looks-and-size:e4:o2:1
# text = Fond of remaining at home in the evenings
1	Fond	fond	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
3	remaining	remain	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	acl	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	evenings	evening	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remain** | gerund | Fond *not said here* |  |  | home | evening |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at home=Location |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Plain or unattractive in appearance

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:9-age-looks-and-size:e4:o3:1
# text = Plain or unattractive in appearance
1	Plain	plain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
2	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	unattractive	unattractive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	conj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	appearance	appearance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Skilled in domestic tasks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:euphemisms:9-age-looks-and-size:e4:o4:1
# text = Skilled in domestic tasks
1	Skilled	skill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	domestic	domestic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	tasks	task	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **skill** | participle |  |  |  | domestic tasks |  |  | tree rules |

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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: age and lo…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/euphemisms/9-age-looks-and-size/e3/)
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