---
title: Identify the principal reason for which second-hand stories are freq… — Rumours and gossip · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which second-hand stories are frequently inaccurate. Exam question 1 of lesson 202 «Rumours and gossip» 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 1 · Rumours and gossip

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which second-hand stories are frequently inaccurate.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, hand stories · **What happens:** identify, be · **To what, where:** principal reason

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This is exam question 1 of lesson 202 «Rumours and gossip» 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/202-rumours-and-gossip/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which second-hand stories are frequently inaccurate.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	obl	_	_
7	second	second	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	9	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	stories	story	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
11	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
12	frequently	frequently	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	inaccurate	inaccurate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	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 principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | hand stories |  |  |  |  | for the principal reason; frequently, inaccurate *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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A message is altered each time it is passed on

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:e1:o1:1
# text = A message is altered each time it is passed on
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	message	message	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	altered	alter	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl:unmarked	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	passed	pass	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl:relcl	_	_
10	on	on	ADP	RP	_	9	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **alter** | present · passive |  | a message |  |  | time |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient |
| 2 | **pass on** | present · passive | each time *not said here* | message |  |  |  |  | vn send-11.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stories become more accurate with each telling

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:e1:o2:1
# text = Stories become more accurate with each telling
1	Stories	story	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	become	become	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	4	advmod	_	_
4	accurate	accurate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	telling	telling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **become** | present | Stories |  |  |  |  | accurate *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Persons who repeat stories invariably intend to lie

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:e1:o3:1
# text = Persons who repeat stories invariably intend to lie
1	Persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
2	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	3	nsubj	_	_
3	repeat	repeat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl:relcl	_	_
4	stories	story	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
5	invariably	invariably	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	intend	intend	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	lie	lie	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **repeat** | present | Persons | stories |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent story=Eventuality |
| 2 | **intend** | present | Persons |  |  |  |  | invariably *property* | vn intend-61.2-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **lie** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Persons *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rumours are generally fabricated by adults

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:e1:o4:1
# text = Rumours are generally fabricated by adults
1	Rumours	rumour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	generally	generally	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	fabricated	fabricate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	adults	adult	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fabricate** | present · passive | adults | Rumours |  |  |  | generally *property* | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Result |

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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: [Rumours and gossip, test 21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/202-rumours-and-gossip/t21/)
- next →: [Rumours and gossip, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/202-rumours-and-gossip/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Rumours and gossip](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/202-rumours-and-gossip/)