---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a fa… — The friend with a PS6 · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a false excuse given to avoid a friend's celebration in favour of another? Exam question 3 of lesson 434 «The friend with a PS6» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question an
---

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# Exam question 3 · The friend with a PS6

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a false excuse given to avoid a friend's celebration in favour of another?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** friend · **What happens:** follow, characteris, give, avoid, celebrate · **To what, where:** false excuse, celebration, favour

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This is exam question 3 of lesson 434 «The friend with a PS6» 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/434-the-friend-with-a-ps6/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:434-the-friend-with-a-ps6:e3:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a false excuse given to avoid a friend's celebration in favour of another?
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	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	false	false	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	excuse	excuse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
12	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	acl	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	avoid	avoid	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	advcl	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	's	's	PART	POS	_	16	case	_	_
18	celebration	celebration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
19	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	favour	favour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
21	of	of	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	20	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	?	?	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 |  | a false excuse |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **give** | participle |  | a false excuse *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 4 | **avoid** | to-infinitive |  | a friend's celebration |  | favour of another |  |  | vn avoid-52 «NP V NP.location»: agent=Agent celebration=Location |
| 5 | **celebrate** |  | a friend |  |  |  |  |  | nom celebration «event transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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 -->
It is preferable in every case to the truth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:434-the-friend-with-a-ps6:e3:o1:1
# text = It is preferable in every case to the truth
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	preferable	preferable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	case	case	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	truth	truth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  | every case to the truth |  | preferable *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is invariably undiscovered

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:434-the-friend-with-a-ps6:e3:o2:1
# text = It is invariably undiscovered
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	invariably	invariably	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	undiscovered	undiscovered	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | invariably, undiscovered *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It occasions greater hurt upon discovery than a kind and honest explanation

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:434-the-friend-with-a-ps6:e3:o3:1
# text = It occasions greater hurt upon discovery than a kind and honest explanation
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	occasions	occasion	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
3	greater	great	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	hurt	hurt	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	discovery	discovery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	kind	kind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	honest	honest	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	explanation	explanation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hurt** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  | upon discovery; than a kind and honest explanation | vn hurt-40.8.3-2 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It occasions no hurt whatever, the friend being unaware of the other celebration

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:434-the-friend-with-a-ps6:e3:o4:1
# text = It occasions no hurt whatever, the friend being unaware of the other celebration
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	occasions	occasion	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	hurt	hurt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	whatever	whatever	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
9	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	10	cop	_	_
10	unaware	unaware	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	celebration	celebration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **occasion** | present | It | no hurt |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | gerund | the friend |  |  |  |  | of the other celebration; unaware *property* | tree rules |

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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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