---
title: Ascertain the principal deficiency of the argument that a plan for s… — The politician's either-or and the str… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the principal deficiency of the argument that a plan for schools is erroneous because its author was discourteous to a waiter a decade previously. Exam question 4 of lesson 178 «The politician's either-or and the straw man» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency 
---

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# Exam question 4 · The politician's either-or and the straw man

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the principal deficiency of the argument that a plan for schools is erroneous because its author was discourteous to a waiter a decade previously.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, plan, author · **What happens:** ascertain, be · **To what, where:** principal deficiency, argument

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 178 «The politician's either-or and the straw man» 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/178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the principal deficiency of the argument that a plan for schools is erroneous because its author was discourteous to a waiter a decade previously.
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	deficiency	deficiency	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	argument	argument	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	plan	plan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	schools	school	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
14	erroneous	erroneous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	acl	_	_
15	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	19	mark	_	_
16	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
17	author	author	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nsubj	_	_
18	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
19	discourteous	discourteous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	parataxis	_	_
20	to	to	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	waiter	waiter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	_
23	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	decade	decade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	advmod	_	_
25	previously	previously	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	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 deficiency of the argument |  |  |  | previously *property* | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent deficiency=Topic |
| 2 | **is** | present | a plan for schools | the argument *not said here* |  |  |  | erroneous *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | past | plan's author |  |  |  |  | to a waiter; discourteous *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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The author's conduct does not establish whether the plan would succeed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:e4:o1:1
# text = The author's conduct does not establish whether the plan would succeed
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	author	author	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
5	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	establish	establish	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	plan	plan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
11	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	succeed	succeed	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **establish** | present · do-support | the author's conduct |  |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 2 | **succeed** | would | the plan |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **conduct** |  | the author |  |  |  |  |  | nom conduct «act transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The plan was not concerned with schools

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:e4:o2:1
# text = The plan was not concerned with schools
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	plan	plan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	concerned	concerned	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	schools	school	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | past | the plan |  |  |  |  | with schools; concerned *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The incident occurred too recently to be relevant

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:e4:o3:1
# text = The incident occurred too recently to be relevant
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	incident	incident	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	occurred	occur	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	too	too	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	recently	recently	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	cop	_	_
8	relevant	relevant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **occur** | past | the incident |  |  |  |  | recently *property* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | to-infinitive | the incident *not said here* |  |  |  |  | relevant *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Discourtesy to waiters invariably indicates a defective plan

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man:e4:o4:1
# text = Discourtesy to waiters invariably indicates a defective plan
1	Discourtesy	discourtesy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	to	to	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	waiters	waiter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
4	invariably	invariably	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	indicates	indicate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	defective	defective	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	plan	plan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **indicate** | present | Discourtesy to waiters | a defective plan |  |  |  | invariably *property* | vn indicate-78-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot plan=Topic |

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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: [The politician's either-or and the str…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man/e3/)
- next →: ["It's natural so it's healthy" and the…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/t1/)
- ↑ back to [The politician's either-or and the straw man](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man/)