---
title: Ascertain the reason for which persons speak quietly in a hospital w… — Quiet places and solemn moments · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which persons speak quietly in a hospital waiting room. Exam question 4 of lesson 224 «Quiet places and solemn moments» 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 · Quiet places and solemn moments

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which persons speak quietly in a hospital waiting room.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, persons · **What happens:** ascertain, speak · **To what, where:** reason, waiting room · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 224 «Quiet places and solemn moments» 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/224-quiet-places-and-solemn-moments/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:224-quiet-places-and-solemn-moments:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which persons speak quietly in a hospital waiting room.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	obl	_	_
6	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	speak	speak	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
8	quietly	quietly	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
11	hospital	hospital	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	waiting	waiting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	room	room	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	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 reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **speak** *speech: other* | present | persons |  |  | a waiting room |  | for the reason; quietly *property* | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
The walls there are very thin and carry every sound

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:224-quiet-places-and-solemn-moments:e4:o1:1
# text = The walls there are very thin and carry every sound
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	walls	wall	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	2	expl	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	very	very	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	thin	thin	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	carry	carry	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
9	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	det	_	_
10	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the walls |  |  |  |  | thin *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **carry** | present | the walls *not said here* | every sound |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sound=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Doctors cannot hear the telephone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:224-quiet-places-and-solemn-moments:e4:o2:1
# text = Doctors cannot hear the telephone
1	Doctors	doctor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	hear	hear	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	telephone	telephone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **hear** | can | Doctors | the telephone |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer telephone=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Patients there may be ill or worried

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:224-quiet-places-and-solemn-moments:e4:o3:1
# text = Patients there may be ill or worried
1	Patients	patient	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
2	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	1	expl	_	_
3	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	cop	_	_
5	ill	ill	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	worried	worried	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | may | Patients |  |  |  |  | ill *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  | Patients *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Quiet makes the wait shorter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:224-quiet-places-and-solemn-moments:e4:o4:1
# text = Quiet makes the wait shorter
1	Quiet	quiet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	nsubj	_	_
2	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	wait	wait	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	shorter	short	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present | Quiet | the wait |  |  |  | short *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset wait=Product |

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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: [Quiet places and solemn moments, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/224-quiet-places-and-solemn-moments/e3/)
- next →: [Good manners on buses and trains, and…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/225-public-transport-and-borrowing/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Quiet places and solemn moments](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/224-quiet-places-and-solemn-moments/)