---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a pl… — How medicines work · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a placebo? Exam question 2 of lesson 17 «How medicines work» of the medicine 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 2 · How medicines work

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

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** placebo

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 17 «How medicines work» of the medicine 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/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:17-how-medicines-work:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a placebo?
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	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	placebo	placebo	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	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 |  | a placebo |  |  |  | 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 -->
A medicine of exceptional potency

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:17-how-medicines-work:e2:o1:1
# text = A medicine of exceptional potency
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	medicine	medicine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	exceptional	exceptional	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	potency	potency	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **medicine** |  |  | exceptional potency |  |  |  |  | nom medicine «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An instrument used in examination

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:17-how-medicines-work:e2:o2:1
# text = An instrument used in examination
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	instrument	instrument	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	examination	examination	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | participle |  | a instrument *not said here* |  | examination |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A vitamin supplement

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:17-how-medicines-work:e2:o3:1
# text = A vitamin supplement
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	vitamin	vitamin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	supplement	supplement	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 -->
A preparation containing no active medicine, employed in trials for comparison

```conllu
# sent_id = question:medicine:17-how-medicines-work:e2:o4:1
# text = A preparation containing no active medicine, employed in trials for comparison
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	preparation	preparation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	containing	contain	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	6	det	_	_
5	active	active	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	medicine	medicine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	trials	trial	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	comparison	comparison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **contain** | gerund | a preparation *not said here* | no active medicine |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot medicine=Theme |
| 2 | **employ** | participle · passive |  | a preparation |  | trials for comparison |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

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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: [How medicines work, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/medicine/17-how-medicines-work/e1/)
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