---
title: Ascertain the meaning of the word "conscientious" as employed in a s… — Formal and informal: a mate versus the… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the meaning of the word "conscientious" as employed in a school report. Exam question 4 of lesson 16 «Formal and informal: a mate versus the head teacher» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's cho
---

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# Exam question 4 · Formal and informal: a mate versus the head teacher

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the meaning of the word "conscientious" as employed in a school report.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, employ, mean · **To what, where:** meaning, school report, word

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 16 «Formal and informal: a mate versus the head teacher» of the language 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/language/16-formal-and-informal-a-mate-versus-the-head-teacher/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:16-formal-and-informal-a-mate-versus-the-head-teacher:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the meaning of the word "conscientious" as employed in a school report.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	conscientious	conscientious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
10	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
11	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	advcl	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	compound	_	_
15	report	report	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the meaning of the word |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **employ** | participle | you *not said here* |  |  | a school report |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **mean** |  |  | the word |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=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 -->
Of unusually great height compared with peers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:16-formal-and-informal-a-mate-versus-the-head-teacher:e4:o1:1
# text = Of unusually great height compared with peers
1	Of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	unusually	unusually	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	height	height	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	compared	compare	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	peers	peer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **compare** | participle |  | great height *not said here* |  |  |  | with peers | vn amalgamate-22.2-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Patient with peer=Co-Patient |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Careful and diligent

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:16-formal-and-informal-a-mate-versus-the-head-teacher:e4:o2:1
# text = Careful and diligent
1	Careful	careful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	diligent	diligent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Inclined to excessive talking during lessons

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:16-formal-and-informal-a-mate-versus-the-head-teacher:e4:o3:1
# text = Inclined to excessive talking during lessons
1	Inclined	incline	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
2	to	to	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	excessive	excessive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	talking	talking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
5	during	during	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	lessons	lesson	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **incline** | participle |  |  |  |  | during lessons | to excessive talking | vn addict-96 «NP V NP PP.Theme»: agent=Agent to talking=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Habitually late in the submission of homework

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:16-formal-and-informal-a-mate-versus-the-head-teacher:e4:o4:1
# text = Habitually late in the submission of homework
1	Habitually	habitually	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	late	late	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	submission	submission	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	homework	homework	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **submit** |  |  | homework |  |  |  |  | nom submission «communication transitive»: of=patient |

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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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