---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an a… — Stories that change · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an account that alters as the speaker becomes uncertain? Exam question 3 of lesson 449 «Stories that change» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mo
---

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# Exam question 3 · Stories that change

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an account that alters as the speaker becomes uncertain?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** account, speaker · **What happens:** follow, characteris, alter, become · **To what, where:** account

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 449 «Stories that change» 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/449-stories-that-change/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:449-stories-that-change:e3:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an account that alters as the speaker becomes uncertain?
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	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	account	account	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	12	nsubj	_	_
12	alters	alter	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	acl:relcl	_	_
13	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	speaker	speaker	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
16	becomes	become	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	advcl	_	_
17	uncertain	uncertain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	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 account |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **alter** | present | a account |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 4 | **become** | present | the speaker |  |  |  |  | uncertain *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |

<!-- .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 -->
It is invariably entirely accurate

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:449-stories-that-change:e3:o1:1
# text = It is invariably entirely accurate
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	invariably	invariably	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	accurate	accurate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is invariably a deliberate falsehood, the beach being a familiar place

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:449-stories-that-change:e3:o2:1
# text = It is invariably a deliberate falsehood, the beach being a familiar place
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	invariably	invariably	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	deliberate	deliberate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	falsehood	falsehood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	beach	beach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
10	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	13	cop	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	familiar	familiar	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a deliberate falsehood |  |  |  | invariably *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | gerund | the beach | a familiar place |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It cannot be examined further

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:449-stories-that-change:e3:o3:1
# text = It cannot be examined further
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	examined	examine	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	further	further	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **examine** | can · passive |  | It |  |  |  | further *property* | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It may reflect genuine uncertainty rather than deliberate falsehood

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:449-stories-that-change:e3:o4:1
# text = It may reflect genuine uncertainty rather than deliberate falsehood
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	reflect	reflect	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	genuine	genuine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	uncertainty	uncertainty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	rather	rather	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	deliberate	deliberate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	falsehood	falsehood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reflect** | may | It | genuine uncertainty |  |  |  | than deliberate falsehood | 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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- ← previous: [Stories that change, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/449-stories-that-change/e2/)
- next →: [Stories that change, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/449-stories-that-change/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Stories that change](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/449-stories-that-change/)