---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Parables: the Talents, the Sower and m… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the significance of the four soils in the Parable of the Sower? Exam question 2 of lesson 15 «Parables: the Talents, the Sower and more» of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of 
---

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# Exam question 2 · Parables: the Talents, the Sower and more

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the significance of the four soils in the Parable of the Sower?

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

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 15 «Parables: the Talents, the Sower and more» 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/15-parables-talents-sower-and-more/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:15-parables-talents-sower-and-more:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the significance of the four soils in the Parable of the Sower?
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	significance	significance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	14	nummod	_	_
14	soils	soil	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	Parable	Parable	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	Sower	Sower	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	?	?	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 significance of the four soils in the Parable of the Sower |  |  |  | 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 -->
They represent four nations of the ancient world

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:15-parables-talents-sower-and-more:e2:o1:1
# text = They represent four nations of the ancient world
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	represent	represent	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	nations	nation	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	ancient	ancient	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	world	world	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **represent** | present | They | four nations of the ancient world |  |  |  |  | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot nation=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They represent the four Gospels of the New Testament

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:15-parables-talents-sower-and-more:e2:o2:1
# text = They represent the four Gospels of the New Testament
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	represent	represent	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	Gospels	Gospel	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	New	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	Testament	Testament	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **represent** | present | They | the four Gospels of the New Testament |  |  |  |  | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot gospel=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They represent the four seasons of the agricultural year

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:15-parables-talents-sower-and-more:e2:o3:1
# text = They represent the four seasons of the agricultural year
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	represent	represent	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	seasons	season	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	agricultural	agricultural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **represent** | present | They |  |  |  | season |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They represent different dispositions of those who hear

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:15-parables-talents-sower-and-more:e2:o4:1
# text = They represent different dispositions of those who hear
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	represent	represent	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	dispositions	disposition	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	those	that	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	4	nmod	_	_
7	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
8	hear	hear	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **represent** | present | They | different dispositions of those |  |  |  |  | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot disposition=Theme |
| 2 | **hear** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer |

<!-- 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: [Parables: the Talents, the Sower and m…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/15-parables-talents-sower-and-more/e1/)
- next →: [Parables: the Talents, the Sower and m…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/15-parables-talents-sower-and-more/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Parables: the Talents, the Sower and more](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/15-parables-talents-sower-and-more/)