---
title: Which of the following most accurately characterises the statement "… — The whole class punished, and "you did… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following most accurately characterises the statement "I shall think about it" when treated as a promise? Exam question 4 of lesson 168 «The whole class punished, and "you didn't say no"» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the questi
---

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# Exam question 4 · The whole class punished, and "you didn't say no"

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following most accurately characterises the statement "I shall think about it" when treated as a promise?

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

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 168 «The whole class punished, and "you didn't say no"» of the world 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/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no:e4:1
# text = Which of the following most accurately characterises the statement "I shall think about it" when treated as a promise?
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	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
12	shall	shall	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	acl	_	_
14	about	about	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	_
17	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	18	advmod	_	_
18	treated	treat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	advcl	_	_
19	as	as	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	promise	promise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	?	?	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 statement |  |  |  | accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **think** *speech: other* *in a quote* | shall | I | the statement *not said here* |  |  |  | about statement | vn wish-62 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot statement=Theme |
| 4 | **treat** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | as a promise | vn characterize-29.2 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent as promise=Attribute |

<!-- .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 -->
An appeal to tradition

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no:e4:o1:1
# text = An appeal to tradition
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	appeal	appeal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	tradition	tradition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A binding and explicit undertaking

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no:e4:o2:1
# text = A binding and explicit undertaking
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	binding	binding	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
4	explicit	explicit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	undertaking	undertaking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A collective punishment

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no:e4:o3:1
# text = A collective punishment
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	collective	collective	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	punishment	punishment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An equivocation upon the meaning of the words

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no:e4:o4:1
# text = An equivocation upon the meaning of the words
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	equivocation	equivocation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** |  |  | the words |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient |

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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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