---
title: Identify the principal characteristic which distinguishes a cruel pr… — Cruel pranks and where the line is · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal characteristic which distinguishes a cruel prank from a good-natured one. Exam question 1 of lesson 439 «Cruel pranks and where the line is» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choi
---

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# Exam question 1 · Cruel pranks and where the line is

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal characteristic which distinguishes a cruel prank from a good-natured one.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, principal characteristic · **What happens:** identify, distinguish · **To what, where:** principal characteristic, cruel prank

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 439 «Cruel pranks and where the line is» 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/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal characteristic which distinguishes a cruel prank from a good-natured one.
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	characteristic	characteristic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	distinguishes	distinguish	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	cruel	cruel	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	prank	prank	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
10	from	from	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
12	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	natured	natured	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	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 characteristic |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent characteristic=Theme |
| 2 | **distinguish** | present | the principal characteristic | a cruel prank |  |  |  | from a natured one | vn distinguish-23.5-1 «NP V NP.theme PP.co-theme»: agent=Agent prank=Theme from one=Co-Theme |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
One person is harmed or humiliated while others are amused

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is:e1:o1:1
# text = One person is harmed or humiliated while others are amused
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	harmed	harm	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	humiliated	humiliate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
7	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
8	others	other	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
9	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
10	amused	amused	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **harm** | present · passive |  | One person |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer |
| 2 | **humiliate** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **is** | present | others |  |  |  |  | amused *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The prank is performed out of doors

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is:e1:o2:1
# text = The prank is performed out of doors
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	prank	prank	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	performed	perform	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	out	out	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	doors	door	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **perform** | present · passive |  | the prank |  | doors |  |  | vn performance-26.7 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The prank occurs on a weekday

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is:e1:o3:1
# text = The prank occurs on a weekday
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	prank	prank	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	occurs	occur	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	weekday	weekday	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **occur** | present | the prank |  |  | a weekday |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme on weekday=Location |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The prank is elaborate in its preparation and requires several persons

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is:e1:o4:1
# text = The prank is elaborate in its preparation and requires several persons
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	prank	prank	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	elaborate	elaborate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	preparation	preparation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	requires	require	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
10	several	several	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the prank |  |  | prank's preparation |  | elaborate *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **require** | present | the prank *not said here* | several persons |  |  |  |  | vn require-103-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme person=Precondition |
| 3 | **prepare** |  | prank |  |  |  |  |  | nom preparation «act transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- 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: [Cruel pranks and where the line is, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/t11/)
- next →: [Cruel pranks and where the line is, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Cruel pranks and where the line is](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/439-cruel-pranks-and-where-the-line-is/)