---
title: Identify the principal reason for which the instruction «retaliate w… — «Just hit him back» or «tell a teacher… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which the instruction «retaliate with physical force» is considered inadvisable for a pupil subjected to provocation. Exam question 1 of lesson 391 ««Just hit him back» or «tell a teacher»? What the grown-ups say» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, wit
---

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# Exam question 1 · «Just hit him back» or «tell a teacher»? What the grown-up…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which the instruction «retaliate with physical force» is considered inadvisable for a pupil subjected to provocation.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, retaliate, consider, subject · **To what, where:** principal reason, instruction, pupil · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 391 ««Just hit him back» or «tell a teacher»? What the grown-ups say» 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/391-just-hit-him-back-or-tell-a-teacher/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:391-just-hit-him-back-or-tell-a-teacher:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which the instruction «retaliate with physical force» is considered inadvisable for a pupil subjected to provocation.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	16	obl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	instruction	instruction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	retaliate	retaliate	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	8	parataxis	_	_
11	with	with	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	physical	physical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	force	force	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
15	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux:pass	_	_
16	considered	consider	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl:relcl	_	_
17	inadvisable	inadvisable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	xcomp	_	_
18	for	for	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
21	subjected	subject	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	20	acl	_	_
22	to	to	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	provocation	provocation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **retaliate** *in a quote* | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | with physical force | vn respond-113 «NP V PP.predicate»: agent=Agent with force=Eventuality |
| 3 | **consider** | present · passive |  | the instruction |  |  |  | for the principal reason; for a pupil; inadvisable *property* | vn consider-29.9-1-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Attribute |
| 4 | **subject** | participle |  | a pupil *not said here* |  |  |  | to provocation | 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 -->
Retaliation is permissible solely outside the school premises

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:391-just-hit-him-back-or-tell-a-teacher:e1:o1:1
# text = Retaliation is permissible solely outside the school premises
1	Retaliation	retaliation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	permissible	permissible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	solely	solely	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	outside	outside	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	premises	premise	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Retaliation |  |  |  |  | outside the school premises; permissible, solely *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Retaliation is ineffective solely on account of the pupil's size

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:391-just-hit-him-back-or-tell-a-teacher:e1:o2:1
# text = Retaliation is ineffective solely on account of the pupil's size
1	Retaliation	retaliation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	ineffective	ineffective	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	solely	solely	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	account	account	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Retaliation |  |  | account of the pupil's size |  | ineffective *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **account** |  |  | the pupil's size |  |  |  |  | nom account «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Retaliation is inadvisable only for female pupils and younger children

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:391-just-hit-him-back-or-tell-a-teacher:e1:o3:1
# text = Retaliation is inadvisable only for female pupils and younger children
1	Retaliation	retaliation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	inadvisable	inadvisable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	female	female	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	pupils	pupil	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	younger	young	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	10	amod	_	_
10	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Retaliation |  |  |  |  | for female pupils and younger children; inadvisable *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Retaliation customarily prolongs and enlarges the conflict

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:391-just-hit-him-back-or-tell-a-teacher:e1:o4:1
# text = Retaliation customarily prolongs and enlarges the conflict
1	Retaliation	retaliation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	customarily	customarily	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	prolongs	prolong	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	enlarges	enlarge	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	conflict	conflict	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prolong** | present | Retaliation |  |  |  |  | customarily *property* | vn sustain-55.6 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **enlarge** | present | Retaliation *not said here* | the conflict |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent conflict=Patient |

<!-- div src -->

**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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