---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises sarc… — Sarcasm and tone of voice · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises sarcasm? Exam question 1 of lesson 29 «Sarcasm and tone of voice» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Exam question 1 · Sarcasm and tone of voice

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises sarcasm?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** sarcasm

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 29 «Sarcasm and tone of voice» 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/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises sarcasm?
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	sarcasm	sarcasm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	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 |  | sarcasm |  |  |  | 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The practice of speaking in a whisper

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice:e1:o1:1
# text = The practice of speaking in a whisper
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	practice	practice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
4	speaking	speak	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	whisper	whisper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | gerund | the practice *not said here* |  |  | a whisper |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The utterance of words contrary to the intended meaning, so as to convey mockery or displeasure

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice:e1:o2:1
# text = The utterance of words contrary to the intended meaning, so as to convey mockery or displeasure
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	utterance	utterance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	contrary	contrary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	intended	intend	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	amod	_	_
9	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	so	so	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
12	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	convey	convey	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
15	mockery	mockery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
16	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
17	displeasure	displeasure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **intend** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **convey** | to-infinitive |  | mockery or displeasure |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent mockery=Topic |
| 3 | **utter** |  |  | words |  |  |  |  | nom utterance «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The utterance of words entirely consistent with the intended meaning, in a courteous manner

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice:e1:o3:1
# text = The utterance of words entirely consistent with the intended meaning, in a courteous manner
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	utterance	utterance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	consistent	consistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	intended	intend	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	amod	_	_
10	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	courteous	courteous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	manner	manner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **intend** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **utter** |  |  | words |  |  |  |  | nom utterance «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The use of exceptionally formal vocabulary

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice:e1:o4:1
# text = The use of exceptionally formal vocabulary
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	use	use	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	exceptionally	exceptionally	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	formal	formal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	vocabulary	vocabulary	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** |  |  | formal vocabulary |  |  |  |  | nom use «act 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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Sarcasm and tone of voice, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/t11/)
- next →: [Sarcasm and tone of voice, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Sarcasm and tone of voice](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/)