---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a ne… — The ball over the fence and the grumpy… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a neighbour who remains disagreeable notwithstanding repeated kindness? Exam question 4 of lesson 473 «The ball over the fence and the grumpy old man next door» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree a
---

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# Exam question 4 · The ball over the fence and the grumpy old man next door

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a neighbour who remains disagreeable notwithstanding repeated kindness?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** neighbour · **What happens:** follow, characteris, remain, notwithstand, repeat · **To what, where:** neighbour, disagreeable notwithstanding repeated kindness

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 473 «The ball over the fence and the grumpy old man next door» 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/473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door:e4:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a neighbour who remains disagreeable notwithstanding repeated kindness?
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	10	det	_	_
10	neighbour	neighbour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	12	nsubj	_	_
12	remains	remain	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	acl:relcl	_	_
13	disagreeable	disagreeable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
14	notwithstanding	notwithstand	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	16	amod	_	_
15	repeated	repeat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	16	amod	_	_
16	kindness	kindness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	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 neighbour |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **remain** | present | a neighbour | disagreeable notwithstanding repeated kindness |  |  |  |  | vn seem-109-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme kindness=Attribute |
| 4 | **notwithstand** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **repeat** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

<!-- .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 -->
She ought to be subjected to retaliation

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door:e4:o1:1
# text = She ought to be subjected to retaliation
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	ought	ought	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	subjected	subject	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	retaliation	retaliation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **subject** | ought · passive |  | She |  |  |  | to retaliation | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Children are obliged to continue until she relents

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door:e4:o2:1
# text = Children are obliged to continue until she relents
1	Children	child	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	obliged	oblige	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	continue	continue	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	relents	relent	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **oblige** | present · passive |  | Children |  |  |  |  | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Patient clause=Result |
| 2 | **continue** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **relent** | present | she |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her conduct proves that kindness is always futile

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door:e4:o3:1
# text = Her conduct proves that kindness is always futile
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	proves	prove	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
5	kindness	kindness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	8	advmod	_	_
8	futile	futile	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prove** | present | Her conduct |  |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | kindness |  |  |  |  | always, futile *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **conduct** |  | Her *= she* |  |  |  |  |  | nom conduct «act transitive»: poss=agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is acceptable to accept the situation and play elsewhere

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:473-the-ball-over-the-fence-and-the-grumpy-old-man-next-door:e4:o4:1
# text = It is acceptable to accept the situation and play elsewhere
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	acceptable	acceptable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	accept	accept	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	situation	situation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	play	play	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
10	elsewhere	elsewhere	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | acceptable *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **accept** | to-infinitive |  | the situation |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent situation=Theme |
| 3 | **play** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | elsewhere *property* | vn performance-26.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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