---
title: Ascertain the principal deficiency of the assertion "Either you feed… — Fighting fair: no straw men, no moving… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the principal deficiency of the assertion "Either you feed the hamster or he starves" where a rota of duties exists. Exam question 4 of lesson 189 «Fighting fair: no straw men, no moving goalposts, no either-or» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pra
---

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# Exam question 4 · Fighting fair: no straw men, no moving goalposts, no eithe…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the principal deficiency of the assertion "Either you feed the hamster or he starves" where a rota of duties exists.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, hamster, rota · **What happens:** ascertain, feed, starve, exist · **To what, where:** principal deficiency, assertion, hamster

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 189 «Fighting fair: no straw men, no moving goalposts, no either-or» 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/189-fighting-fair-no-straw-men-no-moving-goalposts-no-either-or/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:189-fighting-fair-no-straw-men-no-moving-goalposts-no-either-or:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the principal deficiency of the assertion "Either you feed the hamster or he starves" where a rota of duties exists.
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	assertion	assertion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	Either	either	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc:preconj	_	_
10	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	feed	feed	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	hamster	hamster	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
14	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
15	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	starves	starve	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	_
18	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	23	advmod	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	rota	rota	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nsubj	_	_
21	of	of	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	duties	duty	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	nmod	_	_
23	exists	exist	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	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 assertion |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent deficiency=Topic |
| 2 | **feed** *in a quote* | present | you | the assertion *not said here* | the hamster |  |  |  | vn feeding-39.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hamster=Recipient |
| 3 | **starve** *in a quote* | present | hamster |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **exist** | present | a rota of duties |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
It misstates the dietary needs of hamsters

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:189-fighting-fair-no-straw-men-no-moving-goalposts-no-either-or:e4:o1:1
# text = It misstates the dietary needs of hamsters
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	misstates	misstate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	dietary	dietary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	needs	need	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	hamsters	hamster	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **misstate** | present | It | the dietary needs of hamsters |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **need** |  |  | hamsters |  |  |  |  | nom need «state transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It omits further options, such as consulting the rota

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:189-fighting-fair-no-straw-men-no-moving-goalposts-no-either-or:e4:o2:1
# text = It omits further options, such as consulting the rota
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	omits	omit	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	further	further	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	options	option	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=SCONJ	8	mark	_	_
7	as	as	ADP	IN	_	6	fixed	_	_
8	consulting	consult	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	acl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	rota	rota	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **omit** | present | It | further options |  |  |  |  | vn exclude-107.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent option=Theme |
| 2 | **consult** | gerund | further options *not said here* | the rota |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rota=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It correctly identifies the only two options available

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:189-fighting-fair-no-straw-men-no-moving-goalposts-no-either-or:e4:o3:1
# text = It correctly identifies the only two options available
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	correctly	correctly	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	identifies	identify	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	only	only	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	options	option	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
8	available	available	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | present | It | the only two options |  |  |  | available, correctly *property* | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent option=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It attacks the character of the other party

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:189-fighting-fair-no-straw-men-no-moving-goalposts-no-either-or:e4:o4:1
# text = It attacks the character of the other party
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	attacks	attack	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	character	character	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	party	party	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **attack** | present | It | the character of the other party |  |  |  |  | vn attack-60.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent character=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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- ↑ back to [Fighting fair: no straw men, no moving goalposts, no either-or](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/189-fighting-fair-no-straw-men-no-moving-goalposts-no-either-or/)