---
title: Ascertain which question most effectively tests the veracity of a ru… — Rumours and gossip · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain which question most effectively tests the veracity of a rumour. Exam question 4 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 4 · Rumours and gossip

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain which question most effectively tests the veracity of a rumour.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, question · **What happens:** ascertain, test · **To what, where:** veracity

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This is exam question 4 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/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:e4:1
# text = Ascertain which question most effectively tests the veracity of a rumour.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	3	det	_	_
3	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	5	advmod	_	_
5	effectively	effectively	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	tests	test	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	veracity	veracity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	rumour	rumour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	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 | **test** | present | which question | the veracity of a rumour |  |  |  | effectively *property* | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent veracity=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
«How do you know that?»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:e4:o1:1
# text = «How do you know that?»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
3	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** *in a quote* | present · do-support | you | that |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer that=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«Who else has heard this?»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:e4:o2:1
# text = «Who else has heard this?»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
3	else	else	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	heard	hear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** *in a quote* | present · perfect |  | this |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer this=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«Is it not exciting?»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:e4:o3:1
# text = «Is it not exciting?»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	exciting	exciting	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** *in a quote* | present | it |  |  |  |  | exciting *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«May I tell my friends?»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:202-rumours-and-gossip:e4:o4:1
# text = «May I tell my friends?»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	May	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	friends	friend	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | may | I |  | my friends |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent friend=Recipient |

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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, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/202-rumours-and-gossip/e3/)
- next →: [Jokes and teasing: when is it still fu…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/203-jokes-and-teasing/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Rumours and gossip](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/202-rumours-and-gossip/)