---
title: Ascertain the principal reason for which a pupil ought to inform nei… — Keeping promises · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the principal reason for which a pupil ought to inform neighbours that their cat was not fed, notwithstanding that the omission is unknown to them. Exam question 4 of lesson 86 «Keeping promises» of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatic
---

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# Exam question 4 · Keeping promises

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the principal reason for which a pupil ought to inform neighbours that their cat was not fed, notwithstanding that the omission is unknown to them.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, pupil, omission · **What happens:** ascertain, inform, not feed, notwithstand, be · **To what, where:** principal reason, neighbours, cat

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 86 «Keeping promises» 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/86-keeping-promises/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:86-keeping-promises:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the principal reason for which a pupil ought to inform neighbours that their cat was not fed, notwithstanding that the omission is unknown to them.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	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	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	obl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
9	ought	ought	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	inform	inform	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	acl:relcl	_	_
12	neighbours	neighbour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	_
13	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
14	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj:pass	_	_
16	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux:pass	_	_
17	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	18	advmod	_	_
18	fed	feed	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
20	notwithstanding	notwithstand	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	18	advcl	_	_
21	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	25	mark	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	omission	omission	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	nsubj	_	_
24	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	25	cop	_	_
25	unknown	unknown	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	ccomp	_	_
26	to	to	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
27	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	.	.	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 principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **inform** *speech: other* | ought | a pupil | neighbours |  |  |  | for the principal reason | vn tell-37.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent neighbour=Recipient |
| 3 | **not** **feed** | past · passive |  | neighbours's cat |  |  |  |  | vn feeding-39.7 «NP V NP»: subject=Recipient |
| 4 | **notwithstand** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **is** | present | the omission |  | neighbours *= neighbour* |  |  | unknown *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 -->
The neighbours are certain to discover the omission in any event

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:86-keeping-promises:e4:o1:1
# text = The neighbours are certain to discover the omission in any event
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	neighbours	neighbour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	certain	certain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	discover	discover	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	omission	omission	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	11	det	_	_
11	event	event	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the neighbours |  |  |  |  | certain *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **discover** | to-infinitive | the neighbours *not said here* | the omission |  | any event |  |  | vn discover-84-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent omission=Topic |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The omission is of no consequence and requires no mention

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:86-keeping-promises:e4:o2:1
# text = The omission is of no consequence and requires no mention
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	omission	omission	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	6	det	_	_
6	consequence	consequence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	requires	require	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
9	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	10	det	_	_
10	mention	mention	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the omission |  |  |  |  | of no consequence | tree rules |
| 2 | **require** | present | the omission *not said here* | no mention |  |  |  |  | vn require-103-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme mention=Precondition |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The pupil is thereby relieved of all further duties for the week

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:86-keeping-promises:e4:o3:1
# text = The pupil is thereby relieved of all further duties for the week
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pupil	pupil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	thereby	thereby	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	relieved	relieved	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
8	further	further	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	duties	duty	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
10	for	for	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	week	week	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the pupil |  |  |  |  | of all further duties for the week; relieved, thereby *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The welfare of the animal may require attention, and candour preserves the neighbours' trust

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:86-keeping-promises:e4:o4:1
# text = The welfare of the animal may require attention, and candour preserves the neighbours' trust
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	welfare	welfare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	require	require	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	attention	attention	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	candour	candour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	preserves	preserve	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	neighbours	neighbour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	'	's	PART	POS	_	14	case	_	_
16	trust	trust	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **require** | may | the welfare of the animal | attention |  |  |  |  | vn require-103-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme attention=Precondition |
| 2 | **preserve** | present | candour | the neighbours's trust |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent trust=Beneficiary |
| 3 | **trust** |  | the neighbours |  |  |  |  |  | nom trust «possession intransitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- 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: [Keeping promises, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/86-keeping-promises/e3/)
- next →: [Good secrets and bad secrets, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/87-good-secrets-and-bad-secrets/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Keeping promises](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/86-keeping-promises/)