Exam question 4 · Spike and Tom: real dogs and cats, enemies or friends?

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the breeding of the bulldog?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris · To what, where: breeding

This is exam question 4 of lesson 121 «Spike and Tom: real dogs and cats, enemies or friends?» 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	Which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 characterises	nsubj
2	of	of	ADP	_	5 statements	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 statements	det
4	following	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 statements	amod
5	statements	statement	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 characterises	obl
6	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	7 accurately	advmod
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	_	8 characterises	advmod
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 breeding	det
10	breeding	breeding	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 bulldog	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 bulldog	det
13	bulldog	bulldog	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 breeding	nmod
14	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	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		the breeding of the bulldog				of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules

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

Its flattened face is an adaptation acquired in the wild by its wolf ancestors for fighting large prey

The tree, 18 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	3 face	nmod:poss
2	flattened	flatten	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 face	amod
3	face	face	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 adaptation	nsubj
4	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 adaptation	cop
5	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 adaptation	det
6	adaptation	adaptation	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
7	acquired	acquire	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 adaptation	acl
8	in	in	ADP	_	10 wild	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 wild	det
10	wild	wild	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 acquired	obl
11	by	by	ADP	_	14 ancestors	case
12	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	14 ancestors	nmod:poss
13	wolf	wolf	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 ancestors	compound
14	ancestors	ancestor	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 acquired	obl
15	for	for	SCONJ	_	16 fighting	mark
16	fighting	fight	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	6 adaptation	acl
17	large	large	ADJ	Degree=Pos	18 prey	amod
18	prey	prey	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 fighting	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	flatten	participle					vn carve-21.2-1 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient
2	is a	present	Its flattened face	a adaptation			tree rules
3	acquire	participle		a adaptation not said here	the wild	by face's wolf ancestors	vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset
4	fight	gerund	a adaptation not said here	large prey			vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent prey=Co-Agent

Option 2

Its flattened face is shared by all wild members of the dog family

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	3 face	nmod:poss
2	flattened	flatten	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 face	amod
3	face	face	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 shared	nsubj:pass
4	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 shared	aux:pass
5	shared	share	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	by	by	ADP	_	9 members	case
7	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	9 members	det
8	wild	wild	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 members	amod
9	members	member	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 shared	obl
10	of	of	ADP	_	13 family	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 family	det
12	dog	dog	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 family	compound
13	family	family	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 members	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	flatten	participle							vn carve-21.2-1 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient
2	share	present · passive	all wild members of the dog family	Its flattened face					tree rules

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

Its flattened face was selected by human breeders and is frequently associated with difficulty in breathing

The tree, 16 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	3 face	nmod:poss
2	flattened	flatten	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 face	amod
3	face	face	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 selected	nsubj:pass
4	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 selected	aux:pass
5	selected	select	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	by	by	ADP	_	8 breeders	case
7	human	human	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 breeders	amod
8	breeders	breeder	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 selected	obl
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	12 associated	cc
10	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	12 associated	aux:pass
11	frequently	frequently	ADV	_	12 associated	advmod
12	associated	associate	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 selected	conj
13	with	with	ADP	_	14 difficulty	case
14	difficulty	difficulty	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 associated	obl
15	in	in	ADP	_	16 breathing	case
16	breathing	breathing	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 associated	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	flatten	participle					vn carve-21.2-1 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient
2	select	past · passive	human breeders	Its flattened face			vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme
3	associate	present · passive	human breeders not said here		breathing	with difficulty; frequently property	vn amalgamate-22.2-2 «NP V PP»: with difficulty=Co-Patient

Option 4

Its flattened face confers a superior sense of smell

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	3 face	nmod:poss
2	flattened	flatten	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 face	amod
3	face	face	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 confers	nsubj
4	confers	confer	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 sense	det
6	superior	superior	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 sense	amod
7	sense	sense	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 confers	obj
8	of	of	ADP	_	9 smell	case
9	smell	smell	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 sense	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	flatten	participle			vn carve-21.2-1 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient
2	confer	present	Its flattened face	a superior sense of smell	tree rules
3	sense			smell	nom sense «cognition 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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