---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — When the police come · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the obligation of a child witness questioned by a police officer? Exam question 2 of lesson 384 «When the police come» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each 
---

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# Exam question 2 · When the police come

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the obligation of a child witness questioned by a police officer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **What happens:** follow, characteris, question, obligate · **To what, where:** obligation, child witness

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 384 «When the police come» 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/384-when-the-police-come/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:384-when-the-police-come:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the obligation of a child witness questioned by a police officer?
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	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	obligation	obligation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
14	witness	witness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
15	questioned	question	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	acl	_	_
16	by	by	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	police	police	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	compound	_	_
19	officer	officer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	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 obligation of a child witness |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **question** *speech: other* | participle |  | a child witness *not said here* |  |  |  | by a police officer | vn interrogate-37.1.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **obligate** |  |  | a child witness |  |  |  |  | nom obligation «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 -->
The witness should decline to answer in order to protect his peers from blame

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:384-when-the-police-come:e2:o1:1
# text = The witness should decline to answer in order to protect his peers from blame
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	witness	witness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	decline	decline	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	answer	answer	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	protect	protect	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	peers	peer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
13	from	from	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	blame	blame	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **decline** | should | the witness |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **answer** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive | the witness *not said here* |  |  | order |  |  | vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **protect** | to-infinitive | the witness *not said here* | witness's peers |  |  |  | from blame | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent peer=Beneficiary from blame=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The witness should supply probable details where uncertain

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:384-when-the-police-come:e2:o2:1
# text = The witness should supply probable details where uncertain
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	witness	witness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	supply	supply	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	probable	probable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	details	detail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	8	advmod	_	_
8	uncertain	uncertain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **supply** | should | the witness | probable details |  |  |  |  | vn fulfilling-13.4.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent detail=Recipient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The witness should relate the accounts of others as his own

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:384-when-the-police-come:e2:o3:1
# text = The witness should relate the accounts of others as his own
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	witness	witness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	relate	relate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	accounts	account	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	others	other	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
9	as	as	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **relate** | should | the witness | the accounts of others |  |  |  | as witness's own | vn involve-107.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent account=Theme |
| 2 | **account** |  |  | others |  |  |  |  | nom account «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The witness should state truthfully only what he personally saw and heard

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:384-when-the-police-come:e2:o4:1
# text = The witness should state truthfully only what he personally saw and heard
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	witness	witness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	state	state	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	truthfully	truthfully	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
9	personally	personally	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **state** *speech: other* | should | the witness |  |  |  |  | truthfully *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent what=Topic |
| 2 | **see** | past | witness |  |  |  |  | personally *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **hear** | past | witness *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer |

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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: [When the police come, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/384-when-the-police-come/e1/)
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