---
title: Ascertain the course of action most likely to diminish the persisten… — Humiliated in front of everyone: the m… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the course of action most likely to diminish the persistence of a nickname arising from an embarrassing incident. Exam question 4 of lesson 9 «Humiliated in front of everyone: the moment that won't go away» of the reflection course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pra
---

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# Exam question 4 · Humiliated in front of everyone: the moment that won't go…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the course of action most likely to diminish the persistence of a nickname arising from an embarrassing incident.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, nickname · **What happens:** ascertain, diminish, arise · **To what, where:** course, persistence, embarrassing incident

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 9 «Humiliated in front of everyone: the moment that won't go away» of the reflection 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/reflection/9-humiliated-in-front-of-everyone-the-moment-that-won-t-go-away/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:9-humiliated-in-front-of-everyone-the-moment-that-won-t-go-away:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the course of action most likely to diminish the persistence of a nickname arising from an embarrassing incident.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	course	course	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	action	action	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	likely	likely	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	diminish	diminish	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	advcl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	persistence	persistence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	nickname	nickname	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
15	arising	arise	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	14	acl	_	_
16	from	from	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
17	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	embarrassing	embarrassing	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	incident	incident	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the course of action |  |  |  | likely *property* | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent course=Topic |
| 2 | **diminish** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* | the persistence of a nickname |  |  |  |  | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Causer persistence=Patient |
| 3 | **arise** | gerund | a nickname *not said here* |  |  | a embarrassing incident |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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 bestowal of a more offensive nickname upon the originator

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:9-humiliated-in-front-of-everyone-the-moment-that-won-t-go-away:e4:o1:1
# text = The bestowal of a more offensive nickname upon the originator
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	bestowal	bestowal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	6	advmod	_	_
6	offensive	offensive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	nickname	nickname	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
8	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	originator	originator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bestow** |  |  | a offensive nickname upon the originator |  |  |  |  | nom bestowal «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The vehement contradiction of the nickname upon each occasion

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:9-humiliated-in-front-of-everyone-the-moment-that-won-t-go-away:e4:o2:1
# text = The vehement contradiction of the nickname upon each occasion
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	vehement	vehement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	contradiction	contradiction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	nickname	nickname	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
9	occasion	occasion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The absence of any angry reaction upon its use

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:9-humiliated-in-front-of-everyone-the-moment-that-won-t-go-away:e4:o3:1
# text = The absence of any angry reaction upon its use
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	absence	absence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	6	det	_	_
5	angry	angry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	reaction	reaction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
7	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	use	use	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **absent** |  |  | any angry reaction upon reaction's use |  |  |  |  | nom absence «state transitive»: of=patient |
| 2 | **use** |  | reaction |  |  |  |  |  | nom use «act transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The formal adoption of a different name by deed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:reflection:9-humiliated-in-front-of-everyone-the-moment-that-won-t-go-away:e4:o4:1
# text = The formal adoption of a different name by deed
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	formal	formal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	adoption	adoption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	deed	deed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **adopt** |  |  | a different name by deed |  |  |  |  | nom adoption «act transitive»: of=patient |
| 2 | **name** |  | deed |  |  |  |  |  | nom name «communication transitive»: by=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: [Humiliated in front of everyone: the m…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/reflection/9-humiliated-in-front-of-everyone-the-moment-that-won-t-go-away/e3/)
- next →: [Laughed at: photos, scores, nicknames…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/reflection/10-laughed-at-photos-scores-nicknames-and-the-spotlight/t1/)
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