---
title: Given that a child is frequently alone and frightened in the evening… — The electric meter, the food bank and… · tree and pragmatics
description: Given that a child is frequently alone and frightened in the evenings while a parent works, ascertain the most appropriate course. Exam question 4 of lesson 488 «The electric meter, the food bank and «we can't afford it»» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and 
---

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# Exam question 4 · The electric meter, the food bank and «we can't afford it»

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Given that a child is frequently alone and frightened in the evenings while a parent works, ascertain the most appropriate course.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** child, parent · **What happens:** give, be, frighten, work, ascertain · **To what, where:** appropriate course

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 488 «The electric meter, the food bank and «we can't afford it»» 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/488-the-electric-meter-the-food-bank-and-we-cant-afford-it/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:488-the-electric-meter-the-food-bank-and-we-cant-afford-it:e4:1
# text = Given that a child is frequently alone and frightened in the evenings while a parent works, ascertain the most appropriate course.
1	Given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
2	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	frequently	frequently	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	alone	alone	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	advcl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	frightened	frighten	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	conj	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	evenings	evening	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
13	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	parent	parent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
16	works	work	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
18	ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	conj	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
20	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	21	advmod	_	_
21	appropriate	appropriate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	amod	_	_
22	course	course	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | present | a child |  |  |  |  | alone, frequently *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **frighten** | participle |  |  |  |  | evening |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **work** | present | a parent |  |  |  |  |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **ascertain** | infinitive | a parent *not said here* | the appropriate course |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent course=Topic |

<!-- .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 -->
To admit any visitor who knocks

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:488-the-electric-meter-the-food-bank-and-we-cant-afford-it:e4:o1:1
# text = To admit any visitor who knocks
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	admit	admit	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	4	det	_	_
4	visitor	visitor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	knocks	knock	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **admit** *speech: other* | to-infinitive |  | any visitor |  |  |  |  | vn admit-64.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent visitor=Theme |
| 2 | **knock** | present | any visitor |  |  |  |  |  | vn split-23.2 «NP V apart»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To leave the house in search of the parent

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:488-the-electric-meter-the-food-bank-and-we-cant-afford-it:e4:o2:1
# text = To leave the house in search of the parent
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	leave	leave	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	search	search	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	parent	parent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **leave** | to-infinitive |  | the house |  | search of the parent |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent house=Theme in search=Location |
| 2 | **search** |  |  | the parent |  |  |  |  | nom search «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To conceal the matter from all adults

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:488-the-electric-meter-the-food-bank-and-we-cant-afford-it:e4:o3:1
# text = To conceal the matter from all adults
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	conceal	conceal	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	adults	adult	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **conceal** | to-infinitive |  | the matter |  |  |  | from all adults | vn concealment-16 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent matter=Patient from adult=Beneficiary |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To inform the parent or a teacher

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:488-the-electric-meter-the-food-bank-and-we-cant-afford-it:e4:o4:1
# text = To inform the parent or a teacher
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	inform	inform	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	parent	parent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **inform** *speech: other* | to-infinitive |  |  | the parent or a teacher |  |  |  | vn tell-37.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent parent=Recipient |

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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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- ← previous: [The electric meter, the food bank and…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/488-the-electric-meter-the-food-bank-and-we-cant-afford-it/e3/)
- next →: [Hiding it from friends: being skint at…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/489-hiding-it-from-friends-being-skint-at-school/t1/)
- ↑ back to [The electric meter, the food bank and «we can't afford it»](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/488-the-electric-meter-the-food-bank-and-we-cant-afford-it/)