---
title: Identify the circumstance in which kind silence is NOT appropriate. — White lies and kind silence · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the circumstance in which kind silence is NOT appropriate. Exam question 2 of lesson 196 «White lies and kind silence» of the everyday 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 2 · White lies and kind silence

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the circumstance in which kind silence is NOT appropriate.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, kind silence · **What happens:** identify, not be · **To what, where:** circumstance

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 196 «White lies and kind silence» of the everyday 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/everyday/196-white-lies-and-kind-silence/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:196-white-lies-and-kind-silence:e2:1
# text = Identify the circumstance in which kind silence is NOT appropriate.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	circumstance	circumstance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	obl	_	_
6	kind	kind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	silence	silence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
9	NOT	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	appropriate	appropriate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	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 circumstance |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent circumstance=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **is** | present | kind silence |  |  | the circumstance |  | appropriate *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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
When one is asked about a private family matter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:196-white-lies-and-kind-silence:e2:o1:1
# text = When one is asked about a private family matter
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	asked	ask	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	about	about	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
7	private	private	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
8	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | present · passive |  | one |  |  |  | about a private family matter | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP PP.topic»: subject=Recipient about matter=Topic |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
When a friend's haircut is not to one's taste

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:196-white-lies-and-kind-silence:e2:o2:1
# text = When a friend's haircut is not to one's taste
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	11	advmod	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	haircut	haircut	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	one	one	PRON	PRP	Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	taste	taste	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | present | a friend's haircut |  |  |  |  | to one's taste | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
When someone is being hurt or is hurting themselves

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:196-white-lies-and-kind-silence:e2:o3:1
# text = When someone is being hurt or is hurting themselves
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	hurt	hurt	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	hurting	hurt	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	conj	_	_
9	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hurt** | present · passive |  | someone |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-2 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **hurt** | present · progressive |  | themselves *= they* |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer themselves=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
When one does not like a lunch someone chose

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:196-white-lies-and-kind-silence:e2:o4:1
# text = When one does not like a lunch someone chose
1	When	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	5	mark	_	_
2	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nsubj	_	_
3	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	like	like	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	lunch	lunch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	9	nsubj	_	_
9	chose	choose	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **like** | present · do-support | one | a lunch |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **choose** | past | someone |  |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

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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: [White lies and kind silence, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/196-white-lies-and-kind-silence/e1/)
- next →: [White lies and kind silence, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/196-white-lies-and-kind-silence/e3/)
- ↑ back to [White lies and kind silence](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/196-white-lies-and-kind-silence/)