---
title: Ascertain which statement concerning the anecdote of George Washingt… — Owning up: the broken vase and the los… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain which statement concerning the anecdote of George Washington and the cherry tree is consistent with historical scholarship. Exam question 4 of lesson 89 «Owning up: the broken vase and the lost library book» of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree a
---

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# Exam question 4 · Owning up: the broken vase and the lost library book

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain which statement concerning the anecdote of George Washington and the cherry tree is consistent with historical scholarship.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, cherry tree · **What happens:** ascertain, concern, be · **To what, where:** statement

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 89 «Owning up: the broken vase and the lost library book» 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/89-owning-up-the-broken-vase-and-the-lost-library-book/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:89-owning-up-the-broken-vase-and-the-lost-library-book:e4:1
# text = Ascertain which statement concerning the anecdote of George Washington and the cherry tree is consistent with historical scholarship.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	3	det	_	_
3	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	concerning	concern	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	anecdote	anecdote	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	George	George	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
9	Washington	Washington	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	flat	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	cherry	cherry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	consistent	consistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
16	with	with	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	historical	historical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	scholarship	scholarship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | which statement |  |  |  | concern the anecdote of George | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent statement=Topic |
| 2 | **concern** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **is** | present | the cherry tree |  |  |  |  | with historical scholarship; consistent *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 anecdote is confirmed by archaeological evidence

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:89-owning-up-the-broken-vase-and-the-lost-library-book:e4:o1:1
# text = The anecdote is confirmed by archaeological evidence
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	anecdote	anecdote	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	confirmed	confirm	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	archaeological	archaeological	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	evidence	evidence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confirm** | present · passive | archaeological evidence | the anecdote |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot subject=Topic |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The anecdote is attested in Washington's own correspondence

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:89-owning-up-the-broken-vase-and-the-lost-library-book:e4:o2:1
# text = The anecdote is attested in Washington's own correspondence
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	anecdote	anecdote	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	attested	attest	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	Washington	Washington	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	correspondence	correspondence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **attest** | present · passive |  | the anecdote |  | Washington's own correspondence |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **correspond** |  | Washington |  |  |  |  |  | nom correspondence «communication intransitive»: poss=agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The anecdote originated in the biography by Mason Locke Weems and is almost certainly fictitious

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:89-owning-up-the-broken-vase-and-the-lost-library-book:e4:o3:1
# text = The anecdote originated in the biography by Mason Locke Weems and is almost certainly fictitious
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	anecdote	anecdote	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	originated	originate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	biography	biography	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	Mason	Mason	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	Locke	Locke	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	flat	_	_
10	Weems	Weems	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	flat	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
13	almost	almost	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	certainly	certainly	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	fictitious	fictitious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **originate** | participle |  | the anecdote *not said here* |  | the biography |  | by Mason | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | certainly, fictitious *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The anecdote was first recorded by Washington's father

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:89-owning-up-the-broken-vase-and-the-lost-library-book:e4:o4:1
# text = The anecdote was first recorded by Washington's father
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	anecdote	anecdote	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	5	advmod	_	_
5	recorded	record	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	Washington	Washington	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **record** | past · passive | Washington's father | the anecdote |  |  |  | first *property* | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |

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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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- ← previous: [Owning up: the broken vase and the los…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/89-owning-up-the-broken-vase-and-the-lost-library-book/e3/)
- next →: [Saying sorry and making amends: Zaccha…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/90-saying-sorry-and-making-amends-zacchaeus-pays-back/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Owning up: the broken vase and the lost library book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/89-owning-up-the-broken-vase-and-the-lost-library-book/)