Exam question 2 · The African savanna area: giraffes, zebras, rhinos and ant…

Identify the principal reason for which zebras at rest are frequently observed to face in divergent directions.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: you · What happens: identify, observe · To what, where: principal reason, zebras, face, divergent directions

This is exam question 2 of lesson 101 «The African savanna area: giraffes, zebras, rhinos and antelopes» of the biology 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	12 observed	obl
7	zebras	zebra	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 observed	nsubj:pass
8	at	at	ADP	_	9 rest	case
9	rest	rest	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 zebras	nmod
10	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	12 observed	aux:pass
11	frequently	frequently	ADV	_	12 observed	advmod
12	observed	observe	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 reason	acl:relcl
13	to	to	ADP	_	14 face	case
14	face	face	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 observed	obl
15	in	in	ADP	_	17 directions	case
16	divergent	divergent	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 directions	compound
17	directions	direction	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 observed	obl
18	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	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	observe	present · passive		zebras at rest	face	divergent directions		for the principal reason; frequently property	vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: subject=Topic to face=Recipient

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 · ✓ the right answer

That predators approaching from any direction may be detected

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	That	that	DET	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	2 predators	det
2	predators	predator	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 detected	nsubj:pass
3	approaching	approach	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	2 predators	acl
4	from	from	ADP	_	6 direction	case
5	any	any	DET	PronType=Ind	6 direction	det
6	direction	direction	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 approaching	obl
7	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	9 detected	aux
8	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	9 detected	aux:pass
9	detected	detect	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	approach	gerund	that predators not said here			any direction			vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme from direction=Initial_Location
2	detect	may · passive		that predators					vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: subject=Stimulus

Option 2

That their stripes may present a single continuous pattern

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	That	that	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	5 present	nsubj
2	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	3 stripes	nmod:poss
3	stripes	stripe	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 present	nsubj
4	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	5 present	aux
5	present	present	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 pattern	det
7	single	single	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 pattern	amod
8	continuous	continuous	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 pattern	amod
9	pattern	pattern	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 present	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	present	may	That	a single continuous pattern					vn fulfilling-13.4.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pattern=Theme

Option 3

That each individual may defend a separate area of grass

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	That	that	DET	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	3 individual	det
2	each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	3 individual	det
3	individual	individual	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 defend	nsubj
4	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	5 defend	aux
5	defend	defend	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 area	det
7	separate	separate	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 area	amod
8	area	area	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 defend	obj
9	of	of	ADP	_	10 grass	case
10	grass	grass	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 area	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	defend	may	that individual	a separate area of grass					vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent area=Beneficiary

Option 4

That the wind may be prevented from disturbing the mane

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	That	that	DET	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	3 wind	det
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 wind	det
3	wind	wind	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 prevented	nsubj:pass
4	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	6 prevented	aux
5	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	6 prevented	aux:pass
6	prevented	prevent	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
7	from	from	SCONJ	_	8 disturbing	mark
8	disturbing	disturb	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	6 prevented	advcl
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 mane	det
10	mane	mane	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 disturbing	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	prevent	may · passive		that wind					vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	disturb	gerund		the mane					vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus mane=Experiencer

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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