---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a «w… — Grown-ups' little lies: the ice-cream… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a «white lie»? Exam question 3 of lesson 443 «Grown-ups' little lies: the ice-cream van» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wron
---

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# Exam question 3 · Grown-ups' little lies: the ice-cream van

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a «white lie»?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** white lie

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 443 «Grown-ups' little lies: the ice-cream van» 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/443-grown-ups-little-lies-the-ice-cream-van/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:443-grown-ups-little-lies-the-ice-cream-van:e3:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a «white lie»?
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	12	det	_	_
10	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	lie	lie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	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 white lie |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A falsehood of the gravest possible character, told to harm another

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:443-grown-ups-little-lies-the-ice-cream-van:e3:o1:1
# text = A falsehood of the gravest possible character, told to harm another
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	falsehood	falsehood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	gravest	grave	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	7	amod	_	_
6	possible	possible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	character	character	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	harm	harm	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	xcomp	_	_
12	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | participle · passive |  | a falsehood of the gravest possible character |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **harm** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | a falsehood of the gravest possible character *not said here* | another |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus another=Experiencer |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A falsehood recorded in written form

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:443-grown-ups-little-lies-the-ice-cream-van:e3:o2:1
# text = A falsehood recorded in written form
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	falsehood	falsehood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	recorded	record	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	written	write	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	_
6	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **record** | participle |  | a falsehood *not said here* |  | written form |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent in form=Destination |
| 2 | **write** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A minor falsehood uttered for reasons of kindness or courtesy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:443-grown-ups-little-lies-the-ice-cream-van:e3:o3:1
# text = A minor falsehood uttered for reasons of kindness or courtesy
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	minor	minor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	falsehood	falsehood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	uttered	utter	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	reasons	reason	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl:agent	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	kindness	kindness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	courtesy	courtesy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **utter** *speech: other* | participle |  | a minor falsehood *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A statement that is invariably true

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:443-grown-ups-little-lies-the-ice-cream-van:e3:o4:1
# text = A statement that is invariably true
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	invariably	invariably	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | a statement |  |  |  |  | invariably, true *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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ↑ back to [Grown-ups' little lies: the ice-cream van](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/443-grown-ups-little-lies-the-ice-cream-van/)