---
title: Which of the following most accurately characterises a protracted di… — The football argument that goes in cir… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following most accurately characterises a protracted dispute as to whether a hot dog is a sandwich? Exam question 4 of lesson 170 «The football argument that goes in circles» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of eac
---

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# Exam question 4 · The football argument that goes in circles

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following most accurately characterises a protracted dispute as to whether a hot dog is a sandwich?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** hot dog · **What happens:** follow, characteris, protract, be · **To what, where:** protracted dispute

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 170 «The football argument that goes in circles» 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/170-the-football-argument-that-goes-in-circles/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:170-the-football-argument-that-goes-in-circles:e4:1
# text = Which of the following most accurately characterises a protracted dispute as to whether a hot dog is a sandwich?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	4	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
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	4	advcl	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	protracted	protract	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	amod	_	_
10	dispute	dispute	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
11	as	as	ADP	IN	ExtPos=ADP	19	case	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	fixed	_	_
13	whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	19	mark	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	hot	hot	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nsubj	_	_
17	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	sandwich	sandwich	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	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 |  | a protracted dispute |  |  |  | accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **protract** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn sustain-55.6 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is** | present | a hot dog |  |  |  |  | as a sandwich | 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 -->
A matter of established law

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:170-the-football-argument-that-goes-in-circles:e4:o1:1
# text = A matter of established law
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	established	establish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	amod	_	_
5	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **establish** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 2 | **matter** |  | established law |  |  |  |  |  | nom matter «cognition intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

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

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:170-the-football-argument-that-goes-in-circles:e4:o2:1
# text = A case of collective punishment
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	case	case	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	collective	collective	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	punishment	punishment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A question to be settled by scientific measurement of the bread

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:170-the-football-argument-that-goes-in-circles:e4:o3:1
# text = A question to be settled by scientific measurement of the bread
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	question	question	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	settled	settle	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	scientific	scientific	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	measurement	measurement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	bread	bread	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **settle** | to-infinitive · passive | scientific measurement of the bread |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **measure** |  |  | the bread |  |  |  |  | nom measurement «act transitive»: of=patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A verbal dispute arising from an undefined term

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:170-the-football-argument-that-goes-in-circles:e4:o4:1
# text = A verbal dispute arising from an undefined term
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	verbal	verbal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	dispute	dispute	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	arising	arise	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	undefined	undefin	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
8	term	term	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **arise** | gerund | a verbal dispute *not said here* |  |  | a undefined term |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **undefin** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [The football argument that goes in cir…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/170-the-football-argument-that-goes-in-circles/e3/)
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- ↑ back to [The football argument that goes in circles](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/170-the-football-argument-that-goes-in-circles/)