---
title: Determine which course of action is most likely to diminish the cons… — Little lies at home · tree and pragmatics
description: Determine which course of action is most likely to diminish the consequences of a minor falsehood. Exam question 4 of lesson 336 «Little lies at home» 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 · Little lies at home

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Determine which course of action is most likely to diminish the consequences of a minor falsehood.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, action · **What happens:** determine, be, diminish · **To what, where:** course, consequences

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 336 «Little lies at home» 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/336-little-lies-at-home/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:336-little-lies-at-home:e4:1
# text = Determine which course of action is most likely to diminish the consequences of a minor falsehood.
1	Determine	determine	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	3	det	_	_
3	course	course	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
5	action	action	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	8	advmod	_	_
8	likely	likely	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	acl	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	diminish	diminish	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	consequences	consequence	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	minor	minor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	falsehood	falsehood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **determine** | imperative | you *not said here* | which course |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent course=Topic |
| 2 | **is** | present | action | which course *not said here* |  |  |  | likely *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **diminish** | to-infinitive | action *not said here* | the consequences of a minor falsehood |  |  |  |  | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Causer consequence=Patient |

<!-- .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 voluntary admission made promptly, prior to discovery

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:336-little-lies-at-home:e4:o1:1
# text = A voluntary admission made promptly, prior to discovery
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	voluntary	voluntary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	admission	admission	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	promptly	promptly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	prior	prior	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	9	case	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	fixed	_	_
9	discovery	discovery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | participle |  | a voluntary admission and discovery *not said here* |  |  |  | promptly *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The attribution of the fault to a younger child

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:336-little-lies-at-home:e4:o2:1
# text = The attribution of the fault to a younger child
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	attribution	attribution	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	fault	fault	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	younger	young	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	9	amod	_	_
9	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **attribute** |  |  | the fault |  |  |  | to a younger child | nom attribution «cognition transitive»: of=patient to=obl |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The avoidance of the person deceived for some days

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:336-little-lies-at-home:e4:o3:1
# text = The avoidance of the person deceived for some days
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	avoidance	avoidance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	deceived	deceive	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	9	det	_	_
9	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **deceive** | past | the avoidance of the person |  |  |  | day |  | vn trick-59.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **avoid** |  |  | the person |  |  |  |  | nom avoidance «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A more elaborate repetition of the original falsehood

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:336-little-lies-at-home:e4:o4:1
# text = A more elaborate repetition of the original falsehood
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	3	advmod	_	_
3	elaborate	elaborate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	repetition	repetition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	original	original	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	falsehood	falsehood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **repeat** |  | the original falsehood |  |  |  |  |  | nom repetition «event intransitive»: of=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: [Little lies at home, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/336-little-lies-at-home/e3/)
- next →: [Excuses and the lies that grow, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Little lies at home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/336-little-lies-at-home/)