Exam question 2 · Sore backs, glasses and feeling low

Identify the principal reason for which many persons above the age of forty require reading spectacles.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, many persons · What happens: identify, require, read · To what, where: principal reason, spectacles

This is exam question 2 of lesson 22 «Sore backs, glasses and feeling low» of the adult life 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.

The question

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Identify	identify	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 reason	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 reason	amod
4	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
5	for	for	ADP	_	6 which	case
6	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	14 require	obl
7	many	many	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 persons	amod
8	persons	person	NOUN	Number=Plur	14 require	nsubj
9	above	above	ADP	_	11 age	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 age	det
11	age	age	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 persons	nmod
12	of	of	ADP	_	13 forty	case
13	forty	forty	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	11 age	nmod
14	require	require	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 reason	acl:relcl
15	reading	read	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	14 require	xcomp
16	spectacles	spectacle	NOUN	Number=Plur	15 reading	obj
17	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	the principal reason		vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme
2	require	present	many persons above the age of forty		for the principal reason	vn require-103-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Theme clause=Precondition
3	read	gerund	many persons above the age of forty not said here	spectacles		vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spectacle=Topic

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

Option 1 · ← Mova's choice

Printed text is customarily produced in smaller sizes for adults

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Printed	print	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 text	amod
2	text	text	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 produced	nsubj:pass
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 produced	aux:pass
4	customarily	customarily	ADV	_	5 produced	advmod
5	produced	produce	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	in	in	ADP	_	8 sizes	case
7	smaller	small	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	8 sizes	amod
8	sizes	size	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 produced	obl
9	for	for	ADP	_	10 adults	case
10	adults	adult	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 produced	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	print	participle							vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	produce	present · passive		Printed text		smaller sizes		for adults; customarily property	vn create-26.4 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: subject=Result for adult=Beneficiary

Option 2

Excessive reading in youth causes the eyes to shrink

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Excessive	excessive	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 reading	amod
2	reading	reading	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 causes	nsubj
3	in	in	ADP	_	4 youth	case
4	youth	youth	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 reading	nmod
5	causes	cause	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 eyes	det
7	eyes	eye	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 causes	obj
8	to	to	PART	_	9 shrink	mark
9	shrink	shrink	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	5 causes	advcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	cause	present	Excessive reading in youth	the eyes					vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition eye=Patient
2	shrink	to-infinitive	Excessive reading in youth not said here						vn bend-45.2 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

The lens of the eye becomes less flexible, impairing close vision

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 lens	det
2	lens	lens	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 becomes	nsubj
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 eye	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 eye	det
5	eye	eye	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 lens	nmod
6	becomes	become	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
7	less	less	ADV	Degree=Cmp	8 flexible	advmod
8	flexible	flexible	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 becomes	xcomp
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 impairing	punct
10	impairing	impair	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	6 becomes	advcl
11	close	close	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 vision	amod
12	vision	vision	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 impairing	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	become	present	the lens of the eye					flexible property	vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient
2	impair	gerund	the lens of the eye not said here	close vision					vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus vision=Experiencer

Option 4

The eye ceases entirely to function in conditions of daylight

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 eye	det
2	eye	eye	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 ceases	nsubj
3	ceases	cease	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	entirely	entirely	ADV	_	3 ceases	advmod
5	to	to	PART	_	6 function	mark
6	function	function	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 ceases	xcomp
7	in	in	ADP	_	8 conditions	case
8	conditions	condition	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 ceases	obl
9	of	of	ADP	_	10 daylight	case
10	daylight	daylight	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 conditions	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	cease	present	the eye	function		conditions of daylight		entirely property	vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality
2	condition			daylight					nom condition «state transitive»: of=patient

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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