---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Standing by a friend · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the conduct of the pupil Maddie upon finding Sam surrounded by other boys? Exam question 1 of lesson 370 «Standing by a friend» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and
---

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# Exam question 1 · Standing by a friend

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the conduct of the pupil Maddie upon finding Sam surrounded by other boys?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Sam · **What happens:** follow, characteris, find, surround, conduct · **To what, where:** conduct, Sam, pupil

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 370 «Standing by a friend» 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/370-standing-by-a-friend/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:370-standing-by-a-friend:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the conduct of the pupil Maddie upon finding Sam surrounded by other boys?
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	1	nmod	_	_
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	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	Maddie	Maddie	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
15	upon	upon	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
16	finding	find	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	advcl	_	_
17	Sam	Sam	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	_
18	surrounded	surround	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	16	xcomp	_	_
19	by	by	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	boys	boy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	obl:agent	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	?	?	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 |  | the conduct of the pupil |  |  |  | accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **find** | gerund |  | Sam |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent sam=Attribute clause=Theme |
| 4 | **surround** | participle | Sam *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **conduct** |  |  | the pupil |  |  |  |  | nom conduct «act transitive»: of=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She struck the boys and thereby resolved the matter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:370-standing-by-a-friend:e1:o1:1
# text = She struck the boys and thereby resolved the matter
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	struck	strike	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	boys	boy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	thereby	thereby	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	resolved	resolve	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **strike** | past | She | the boys |  |  |  |  | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent boy=Instrument |
| 2 | **resolve** | past | She *not said here* | the matter |  |  |  | thereby *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She withdrew from the scene in order to avoid trouble

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:370-standing-by-a-friend:e1:o2:1
# text = She withdrew from the scene in order to avoid trouble
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	withdrew	withdraw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	scene	scene	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	avoid	avoid	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
10	trouble	trouble	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **withdraw** | past | She |  |  | the scene |  | in order | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from scene=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **avoid** | to-infinitive | She *not said here* | trouble |  |  |  |  | vn avoid-52 «NP V NP.location»: agent=Agent trouble=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She summoned the police by means of a telephone carried for that purpose

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:370-standing-by-a-friend:e1:o3:1
# text = She summoned the police by means of a telephone carried for that purpose
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	summoned	summon	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	nsubj	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	police	police	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	telephone	telephone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	carried	carry	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	acl	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	13	det	_	_
13	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **summon** | past | She | the police |  |  |  |  | vn urge-58.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent police=Recipient |
| 2 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  | of a telephone | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **carry** | participle |  | a telephone *not said here* |  |  |  | for that purpose | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her silent presence beside him caused the boys to disperse without violence

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:370-standing-by-a-friend:e1:o4:1
# text = Her silent presence beside him caused the boys to disperse without violence
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	silent	silent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	presence	presence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	beside	beside	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nmod	_	_
6	caused	cause	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	boys	boy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	disperse	disperse	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
11	without	without	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	violence	violence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | past | Her silent presence beside him | the boys |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **disperse** | to-infinitive | the boys *not said here* |  |  |  |  | without violence | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

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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: [Standing by a friend, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/370-standing-by-a-friend/t11/)
- next →: [Standing by a friend, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/370-standing-by-a-friend/e2/)
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