---
title: Which of the following most accurately characterises the purpose of… — Vows, oaths and promises in faith · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following most accurately characterises the purpose of the oath administered to witnesses in a court of law? Exam question 1 of lesson 88 «Vows, oaths and promises in faith» of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question a
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/88-vows-oaths-and-promises-in-faith/e1/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Religion ethics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/) / [Vows, oaths and promises in faith](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/88-vows-oaths-and-promises-in-faith/) / e1

# Exam question 1 · Vows, oaths and promises in faith

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following most accurately characterises the purpose of the oath administered to witnesses in a court of law?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** oath · **What happens:** follow, characteris, administer, purpose · **To what, where:** purpose, oath, witnesses, court

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 88 «Vows, oaths and promises in faith» 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/88-vows-oaths-and-promises-in-faith/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:88-vows-oaths-and-promises-in-faith:e1:1
# text = Which of the following most accurately characterises the purpose of the oath administered to witnesses in a court of law?
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	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	oath	oath	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
13	administered	administer	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	acl	_	_
14	to	to	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	witnesses	witness	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	court	court	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
19	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	?	?	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 |  | the purpose of the oath |  |  |  | accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **administer** | participle |  | the oath *not said here* | witnesses | a court of law |  |  | vn contribute-13.2-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to witness=Recipient |
| 4 | **purpose** |  | the oath |  |  |  |  |  | nom purpose «cognition intransitive»: of=agent |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The prolongation of proceedings for ceremonial reasons

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:88-vows-oaths-and-promises-in-faith:e1:o1:1
# text = The prolongation of proceedings for ceremonial reasons
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	prolongation	prolongation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	proceedings	proceedings	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	2	nmod	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	ceremonial	ceremonial	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	reasons	reason	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prolong** |  |  | proceedings |  |  |  | for ceremonial reasons | nom prolongation «act transitive»: of=patient for=obl |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The exemption of witnesses from the consequences of any falsehood they utter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:88-vows-oaths-and-promises-in-faith:e1:o2:1
# text = The exemption of witnesses from the consequences of any falsehood they utter
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	exemption	exemption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	witnesses	witness	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	consequences	consequence	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	10	det	_	_
10	falsehood	falsehood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
11	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	utter	utter	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **utter** *speech: other* | present | consequences *= consequence* | any falsehood *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent falsehood=Topic |
| 2 | **exempt** |  |  | witnesses from the consequences of any falsehood |  |  |  |  | nom exemption «state transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The demonstration of the witness's religious affiliation

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:88-vows-oaths-and-promises-in-faith:e1:o3:1
# text = The demonstration of the witness's religious affiliation
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	demonstration	demonstration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	witness	witness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	religious	religious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	affiliation	affiliation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **demonstrate** |  |  | the witness's religious affiliation |  |  |  |  | nom demonstration «act transitive»: of=patient |
| 2 | **affiliate** |  | the witness |  |  |  |  |  | nom affiliation «state intransitive»: poss=agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The securing of truthful testimony, the liberty of persons depending upon it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:88-vows-oaths-and-promises-in-faith:e1:o4:1
# text = The securing of truthful testimony, the liberty of persons depending upon it
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
2	securing	secure	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	csubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	2	obl	_	_
4	truthful	truthful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	testimony	testimony	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	liberty	liberty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
11	depending	depend	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	acl	_	_
12	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **secure** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **depend** | gerund | persons *not said here* |  |  |  |  | upon liberty | vn rely-70 «NP V PP.theme S\_ING»: agent=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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Vows, oaths and promises in faith, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/88-vows-oaths-and-promises-in-faith/t11/)
- next →: [Vows, oaths and promises in faith, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/88-vows-oaths-and-promises-in-faith/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Vows, oaths and promises in faith](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/88-vows-oaths-and-promises-in-faith/)