---
title: Identify the principal teaching conveyed by the maxim «A gentle answ… — Psalms and Proverbs · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal teaching conveyed by the maxim «A gentle answer turneth away wrath». Exam question 3 of lesson 11 «Psalms and Proverbs» of the religion ethics 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 3 · Psalms and Proverbs

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal teaching conveyed by the maxim «A gentle answer turneth away wrath».

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, gentle answer · **What happens:** identify, convey, turn away · **To what, where:** principal teaching, wrath · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is exam question 3 of lesson 11 «Psalms and Proverbs» of the religion ethics 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/religion-ethics/11-psalms-and-proverbs/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:11-psalms-and-proverbs:e3:1
# text = Identify the principal teaching conveyed by the maxim «A gentle answer turneth away wrath».
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	teaching	teaching	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	conveyed	convey	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	maxim	maxim	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	gentle	gentle	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	turneth	turn	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
14	away	away	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
15	wrath	wrath	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal teaching |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent teaching=Theme |
| 2 | **convey** | participle |  | the principal teaching *not said here* |  |  |  | by the maxim | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **turn away** *in a quote* | present | a gentle answer | wrath |  |  |  | away *property* | vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wrath=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 -->
That no reply ought ever to be given

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:11-psalms-and-proverbs:e3:o1:1
# text = That no reply ought ever to be given
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
2	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	3	det	_	_
3	reply	reply	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	ought	ought	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
5	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	8	advmod	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | ought · passive |  | that reply |  |  | ever |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That anger ought to be met with silence forever

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:11-psalms-and-proverbs:e3:o2:1
# text = That anger ought to be met with silence forever
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	anger	anger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	ought	ought	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	met	meet	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	silence	silence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
9	forever	forever	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **meet** | ought · passive |  | that anger |  |  |  | with silence; forever *property* | vn satisfy-55.7 «NP V NP PP»: subject=Theme with silence=Instrument |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That a mild reply tends to diminish anger

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:11-psalms-and-proverbs:e3:o3:1
# text = That a mild reply tends to diminish anger
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	nsubj	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	mild	mild	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reply	reply	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	tends	tend	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	diminish	diminish	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	anger	anger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tend** | present | That |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **diminish** | to-infinitive | That *not said here* | anger |  |  |  |  | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Causer anger=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That the meek invariably prevail in disputes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:11-psalms-and-proverbs:e3:o4:1
# text = That the meek invariably prevail in disputes
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	nsubj	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	meek	meek	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	invariably	invariably	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	prevail	prevail	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	disputes	dispute	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prevail** | present |  |  |  | disputes |  | invariably *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in dispute=Location |

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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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