---
title: Pursuant to a statement that fifteen sums «will take a thousand year… — Starving, a million times and a ton: e… · tree and pragmatics
description: Pursuant to a statement that fifteen sums «will take a thousand years», and given that each sum requires two minutes, determine the duration reasonably to be expected. Exam question 4 of lesson 44 «Starving, a million times and a ton: everyday hyperbole» of the language course of Mova's primary scho
---

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# Exam question 4 · Starving, a million times and a ton: everyday hyperbole

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pursuant to a statement that fifteen sums «will take a thousand years», and given that each sum requires two minutes, determine the duration reasonably to be expected.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** that, sum · **What happens:** sum, take, give, require, determine, expect · **To what, where:** duration · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 44 «Starving, a million times and a ton: everyday hyperbole» 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/44-starving-a-million-times-and-a-ton-everyday-hyperbole/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:44-starving-a-million-times-and-a-ton-everyday-hyperbole:e4:1
# text = Pursuant to a statement that fifteen sums «will take a thousand years», and given that each sum requires two minutes, determine the duration reasonably to be expected.
1	Pursuant	pursuant	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	to	to	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
6	fifteen	fifteen	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	sums	sum	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	conj	_	_
8	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	take	take	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	7	appos	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	thousand	thousand	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	13	nummod	_	_
13	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
17	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	parataxis	_	_
18	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
19	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	20	det	_	_
20	sum	sum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nsubj	_	_
21	requires	require	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	advcl	_	_
22	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	23	nummod	_	_
23	minutes	minute	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
25	determine	determine	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	10	conj	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	duration	duration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obj	_	_
28	reasonably	reasonably	ADV	RB	_	31	advmod	_	_
29	to	to	PART	TO	_	31	mark	_	_
30	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	31	aux:pass	_	_
31	expected	expect	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	25	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sum** |  | that |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **take** *in a quote* | future |  |  |  |  | year |  | vn require-103 «NP V that S»: agent=Theme clause=Precondition |
| 3 | **give** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 4 | **require** | present | each sum |  |  |  | minute |  | vn require-103-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **determine** | infinitive |  | the duration |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent duration=Topic |
| 6 | **expect** | to-infinitive · passive |  |  |  |  |  | reasonably *property* | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S» |

<!-- .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 -->
Approximately fifteen hours

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:44-starving-a-million-times-and-a-ton-everyday-hyperbole:e4:o1:1
# text = Approximately fifteen hours
1	Approximately	approximately	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	fifteen	fifteen	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	hours	hour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Approximately one thousand years

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:44-starving-a-million-times-and-a-ton-everyday-hyperbole:e4:o2:1
# text = Approximately one thousand years
1	Approximately	approximately	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	compound	_	_
3	thousand	thousand	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Approximately thirty minutes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:44-starving-a-million-times-and-a-ton-everyday-hyperbole:e4:o3:1
# text = Approximately thirty minutes
1	Approximately	approximately	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	thirty	thirty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	minutes	minute	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Approximately two minutes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:44-starving-a-million-times-and-a-ton-everyday-hyperbole:e4:o4:1
# text = Approximately two minutes
1	Approximately	approximately	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	minutes	minute	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

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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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- ↑ back to [Starving, a million times and a ton: everyday hyperbole](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/44-starving-a-million-times-and-a-ton-everyday-hyperbole/)