---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a ha… — Pranks: harmless fun or real harm? · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a harmless prank? Exam question 1 of lesson 204 «Pranks: harmless fun or real harm?» 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 1 · Pranks: harmless fun or real harm?

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a harmless prank?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** harmless prank

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 204 «Pranks: harmless fun or real harm?» 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/204-pranks/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:204-pranks:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a harmless prank?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	harmless	harmless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	prank	prank	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | a harmless prank |  |  |  | of the following statements; 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 -->
Some minor injury is acceptable, provided all laugh later

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:204-pranks:e1:o1:1
# text = Some minor injury is acceptable, provided all laugh later
1	Some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	3	det	_	_
2	minor	minor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	injury	injury	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	acceptable	acceptable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	provided	provide	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	parataxis	_	_
8	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	advmod	_	_
9	laugh	laugh	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
10	later	late	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	9	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | some minor injury |  |  |  |  | acceptable *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **provide** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn ensure-99 «NP V that S»: agent=Precondition |
| 3 | **laugh** | present |  |  |  |  |  | late *property* | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Only the persons carrying out the prank are amused by its outcome

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:204-pranks:e1:o2:1
# text = Only the persons carrying out the prank are amused by its outcome
1	Only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	carrying	carry	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
5	out	out	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	prank	prank	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	amused	amuse	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
10	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	outcome	outcome	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **carry out** | gerund | the persons *not said here* | the prank |  |  |  |  | vn act-114 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent prank=Eventuality |
| 2 | **amuse** | present · passive | prank's outcome | the persons |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus subject=Experiencer |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Everyone, including the person pranked, laughs and none is harmed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:204-pranks:e1:o3:1
# text = Everyone, including the person pranked, laughs and none is harmed
1	Everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	including	including	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
6	pranked	prank	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
8	laughs	laugh	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
10	none	none	PRON	NN	PronType=Neg	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	harmed	harm	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prank** | participle |  | the person *not said here* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **laugh** | present | Everyone |  |  |  |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **harm** | present · passive |  | none |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The person pranked is not informed of the prank afterwards

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:204-pranks:e1:o4:1
# text = The person pranked is not informed of the prank afterwards
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	pranked	prank	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	informed	inform	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	prank	prank	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	afterwards	afterwards	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prank** | participle |  | the person *not said here* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **inform** *speech: other* | present · passive |  | the person |  |  |  | of the prank; afterwards *property* | vn tell-37.2 «NP V NP.recipient PP.topic»: subject=Recipient of prank=Topic |

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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: [Pranks: harmless fun or real harm?, test 19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/204-pranks/t19/)
- next →: [Pranks: harmless fun or real harm?, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/204-pranks/e2/)
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