---
title: Ascertain the step that most reliably defeats a trick based on a sur… — Telling when someone may be lying · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the step that most reliably defeats a trick based on a surprising story. Exam question 4 of lesson 198 «Telling when someone may be lying» 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 wrong.
---

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# Exam question 4 · Telling when someone may be lying

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the step that most reliably defeats a trick based on a surprising story.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, defeat, base · **To what, where:** step, trick, surprising story

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 198 «Telling when someone may be lying» 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/198-telling-when-someone-may-be-lying/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:198-telling-when-someone-may-be-lying:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the step that most reliably defeats a trick based on a surprising story.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	step	step	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	obj	_	_
5	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	6	advmod	_	_
6	reliably	reliably	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	defeats	defeat	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	trick	trick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	based	base	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	acl	_	_
11	on	on	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	surprising	surprising	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the step |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent step=Topic |
| 2 | **defeat** | present |  | the step |  |  |  | reliably *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **base** | participle |  | a trick *not said here* |  | a surprising story |  |  | vn base-97.1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent on story=Source |

<!-- .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 -->
Asking the stranger to promise it is true

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:198-telling-when-someone-may-be-lying:e4:o1:1
# text = Asking the stranger to promise it is true
1	Asking	ask	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	csubj	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	stranger	stranger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	promise	promise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	xcomp	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | gerund |  | the stranger |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S\_INF»: agent=Agent stranger=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **promise** *speech: promise* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the stranger *not said here* | stranger |  |  |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 3 | **is** | present | Asking |  |  |  |  | true *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Acting quickly before the chance is gone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:198-telling-when-someone-may-be-lying:e4:o2:1
# text = Acting quickly before the chance is gone
1	Acting	act	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	csubj	_	_
2	quickly	quickly	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
3	before	before	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	chance	chance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	gone	gone	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **act** | gerund |  |  |  |  | before the chance | quickly *property* | vn act-114-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | Acting |  |  |  |  | gone *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Keeping the story a secret from everyone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:198-telling-when-someone-may-be-lying:e4:o3:1
# text = Keeping the story a secret from everyone
1	Keeping	keep	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	secret	secret	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	xcomp	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | gerund |  | the story |  | everyone |  |  | vn forbid-64.4 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Causer story=Beneficiary from everyone=Eventuality |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Checking with a trusted adult before acting

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:198-telling-when-someone-may-be-lying:e4:o4:1
# text = Checking with a trusted adult before acting
1	Checking	check	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	with	with	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	trusted	trust	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	amod	_	_
5	adult	adult	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
6	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
7	acting	act	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **check** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | with a trusted adult | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **trust** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **act** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1-1 «NP V»: 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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Telling when someone may be lying, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/198-telling-when-someone-may-be-lying/e3/)
- next →: [Promises, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/199-promises/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Telling when someone may be lying](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/198-telling-when-someone-may-be-lying/)