---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — ★★★ Olympiad: hyperbole and downplayin… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the remark «a touch of drizzle», delivered without expression by a parent viewing a hurricane? Exam question 2 of lesson 55 «★★★ Olympiad: hyperbole and downplaying puzzles» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the depe
---

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# Exam question 2 · ★★★ Olympiad: hyperbole and downplaying puzzles

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the remark «a touch of drizzle», delivered without expression by a parent viewing a hurricane?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** parent · **What happens:** follow, characteris, deliver, view, touch · **To what, where:** remark, hurricane, drizzle

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 55 «★★★ Olympiad: hyperbole and downplaying puzzles» 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/55-olympiad-hyperbole-and-downplaying-puzzles/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:55-olympiad-hyperbole-and-downplaying-puzzles:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the remark «a touch of drizzle», delivered without expression by a parent viewing a hurricane?
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	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	remark	remark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	touch	touch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	appos	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	drizzle	drizzle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
18	delivered	deliver	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	acl	_	_
19	without	without	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
21	by	by	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	parent	parent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
24	viewing	view	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	23	acl	_	_
25	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	hurricane	hurricane	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	?	?	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 |  | the remark |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **deliver** | participle |  | the remark *not said here* |  |  |  | without expression; by a parent | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **view** | gerund | a parent *not said here* | a hurricane |  |  |  |  | vn sight-30.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer hurricane=Stimulus |
| 5 | **touch** *in a quote* |  |  | drizzle |  |  |  |  | nom touch «event 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 -->
A literal description of light rain

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:55-olympiad-hyperbole-and-downplaying-puzzles:e2:o1:1
# text = A literal description of light rain
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	literal	literal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	description	description	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Hyperbole, magnifying the importance of a minor shower

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:55-olympiad-hyperbole-and-downplaying-puzzles:e2:o2:1
# text = Hyperbole, magnifying the importance of a minor shower
1	Hyperbole	hyperbole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
3	magnifying	magnify	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	importance	importance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	minor	minor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	shower	shower	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **magnify** | gerund |  | the importance of a minor shower |  |  |  |  | vn remedy-45.7-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent importance=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A meteorological forecast

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:55-olympiad-hyperbole-and-downplaying-puzzles:e2:o3:1
# text = A meteorological forecast
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	meteorological	meteorological	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	forecast	forecast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sarcastic understatement, intended as a jest

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:55-olympiad-hyperbole-and-downplaying-puzzles:e2:o4:1
# text = Sarcastic understatement, intended as a jest
1	Sarcastic	sarcastic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	understatement	understatement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
4	intended	intend	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
5	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	jest	jest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **intend** | participle |  | Sarcastic understatement *not said here* |  |  |  | as a jest | vn intend-61.2-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent as jest=Attribute |

<!-- div src -->

**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: [★★★ Olympiad: hyperbole and downplayin…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/55-olympiad-hyperbole-and-downplaying-puzzles/e1/)
- next →: [★★★ Olympiad: hyperbole and downplayin…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/55-olympiad-hyperbole-and-downplaying-puzzles/e3/)
- ↑ back to [★★★ Olympiad: hyperbole and downplaying puzzles](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/55-olympiad-hyperbole-and-downplaying-puzzles/)