---
title: Identify the principal reason for which an excuse capable of immedia… — «The dog ate it»: excuses for homework · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which an excuse capable of immediate verification is commonly unsuccessful. Exam question 1 of lesson 426 ««The dog ate it»: excuses for homework» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each op
---

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# Exam question 1 · «The dog ate it»: excuses for homework

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which an excuse capable of immediate verification is commonly unsuccessful.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, excuse · **What happens:** identify, be · **To what, where:** principal reason

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 426 ««The dog ate it»: excuses for homework» 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/426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which an excuse capable of immediate verification is commonly unsuccessful.
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	15	obl	_	_
7	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	excuse	excuse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
9	capable	capable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	immediate	immediate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	verification	verification	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
14	commonly	commonly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	unsuccessful	unsuccessful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	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 | **is** | present | a excuse |  |  |  |  | for the principal reason; unsuccessful *property* | 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 -->
Excuses are never permitted in schools

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:e1:o1:1
# text = Excuses are never permitted in schools
1	Excuses	excuse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	permitted	permit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	schools	school	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **permit** | present · passive |  | Excuses |  | schools |  |  | vn admit-64.3-1 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Theme in school=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Teachers are prohibited from believing pupils

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:e1:o2:1
# text = Teachers are prohibited from believing pupils
1	Teachers	teacher	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	prohibited	prohibit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	believing	believe	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	amod	_	_
6	pupils	pupil	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prohibit** | present · passive |  | Teachers |  |  |  | from believing pupils | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: subject=Beneficiary from pupil=Eventuality |
| 2 | **believe** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The teacher may verify it at once, as by requesting that the work be sent electronically

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:e1:o3:1
# text = The teacher may verify it at once, as by requesting that the work be sent electronically
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	verify	verify	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
11	requesting	request	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
12	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj:pass	_	_
15	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	aux:pass	_	_
16	sent	send	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	advcl	_	_
17	electronically	electronically	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **verify** | may | the teacher | it |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot it=Topic |
| 2 | **request** | gerund | the teacher *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn beg-58.2 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **send** | infinitive · passive |  | the work |  |  |  | electronically *property* | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Electronic devices do not malfunction

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework:e1:o4:1
# text = Electronic devices do not malfunction
1	Electronic	electronic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	devices	device	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	malfunction	malfunction	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **malfunction** | present · do-support | Electronic devices |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- 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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- ← previous: [«The dog ate it»: excuses for homework, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework/t11/)
- next →: [«The dog ate it»: excuses for homework, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework/e2/)
- ↑ back to [«The dog ate it»: excuses for homework](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/426-the-dog-ate-it-excuses-for-homework/)