---
title: Which of the following most accurately characterises a petition? — Protests, petitions and young activists · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following most accurately characterises a petition? Exam question 1 of lesson 38 «Protests, petitions and young activists» of the politics 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 · Protests, petitions and young activists

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

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

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 38 «Protests, petitions and young activists» of the politics 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/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists:e1:1
# text = Which of the following most accurately characterises a petition?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	csubj	_	_
5	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	6	advmod	_	_
6	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	petition	petition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	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 petition |  |  |  | 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 gathering in public of persons opposed to a measure

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists:e1:o1:1
# text = A gathering in public of persons opposed to a measure
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	gathering	gathering	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	public	public	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
7	opposed	oppose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	measure	measure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **oppose** | participle |  | persons *not said here* |  |  |  | to a measure | vn amalgamate-22.2-3 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A written request subscribed by many persons seeking the same outcome

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists:e1:o2:1
# text = A written request subscribed by many persons seeking the same outcome
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	written	write	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	amod	_	_
3	request	request	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
4	subscribed	subscribe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
8	seeking	seek	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	outcome	outcome	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **subscribe** | participle |  | a written request *not said here* |  |  |  | by many persons | tree rules |
| 3 | **seek** | gerund | a written request | the same outcome |  |  |  |  | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent outcome=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A gift conferred in exchange for a vote

```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists:e1:o3:1
# text = A gift conferred in exchange for a vote
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	gift	gift	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	conferred	confer	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	exchange	exchange	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	vote	vote	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confer** | participle |  | a gift *not said here* |  | exchange |  | for a vote | vn chit\_chat-37.6 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A ballot in which the whole nation answers a single question put to it by the government of the day

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:politics:38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists:e1:o4:1
# text = A ballot in which the whole nation answers a single question put to it by the government of the day
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ballot	ballot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obl	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	nation	nation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	answers	answer	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
12	put	put	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	acl	_	_
13	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obl	_	_
15	by	by	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	government	government	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl:agent	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **answer** *speech: assert* | present | the whole nation | a single question |  | a ballot |  |  | vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent question=Eventuality |
| 2 | **put** | participle |  | a single question *not said here* | nation |  |  |  | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent |

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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: [Protests, petitions and young activists, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/t11/)
- next →: [Protests, petitions and young activists, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/politics/38-protests-petitions-and-young-activists/e2/)
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