Exam question 3 · Madagascar: real lemurs, the aye-aye and the fossa

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the method of feeding employed by the aye-aye?

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 3 · right ✓ · What happens: follow, characteris, employ · To what, where: method, feeding

This is exam question 3 of lesson 127 «Madagascar: real lemurs, the aye-aye and the fossa» 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 method	det
10	method	method	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	12 feeding	case
12	feeding	feeding	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 method	nmod
13	employed	employ	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	12 feeding	acl
14	by	by	ADP	_	18 aye	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 aye	det
16	aye	aye	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 aye	compound
17	-	-	PUNCT	_	16 aye	punct
18	aye	aye	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 employed	obl
19	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund			vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present	the method of feeding	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	employ	participle	feeding not said here	by the aye aye	vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

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

It extracts nectar from flowers by means of an elongated tongue

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 extracts	nsubj
2	extracts	extract	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	nectar	nectar	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 extracts	obj
4	from	from	ADP	_	5 flowers	case
5	flowers	flower	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 extracts	obl
6	by	by	ADP	_	7 means	case
7	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 extracts	parataxis
8	of	of	ADP	_	11 tongue	case
9	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 tongue	det
10	elongated	elongate	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	11 tongue	amod
11	tongue	tongue	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 means	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	extract	present	It	nectar	flowers		vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent nectar=Theme from flower=Initial_Location
2	mean	present				of a elongated tongue	vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent
3	elongate	participle					tree rules

Option 2

It captures fish in shallow streams by stirring the mud with its elongated fingers

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 captures	nsubj
2	captures	capture	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	fish	fish	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 captures	obj
4	in	in	ADP	_	6 streams	case
5	shallow	shallow	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 streams	amod
6	streams	stream	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 captures	obl
7	by	by	SCONJ	_	8 stirring	mark
8	stirring	stir	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 captures	advcl
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 mud	det
10	mud	mud	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 stirring	obj
11	with	with	ADP	_	14 fingers	case
12	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	14 fingers	nmod:poss
13	elongated	elongate	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	14 fingers	amod
14	fingers	finger	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 stirring	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	capture	present	It	fish	shallow streams		vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fish=Theme
2	stir	gerund		the mud		with mud's elongated fingers	vn shake-22.3-1-1 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent mud=Patient with finger=Co-Patient
3	elongate	participle					tree rules

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

It taps upon bark, detects the tunnels of grubs, and extracts them with an elongated middle finger

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 taps	nsubj
2	taps	tap	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	upon	upon	ADP	_	4 bark	case
4	bark	bark	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 taps	obl
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	6 detects	punct
6	detects	detect	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 taps	conj
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 tunnels	det
8	tunnels	tunnel	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 detects	obj
9	of	of	ADP	_	10 grubs	case
10	grubs	grub	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 tunnels	nmod
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 extracts	punct
12	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 extracts	cc
13	extracts	extract	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 taps	conj
14	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	13 extracts	obj
15	with	with	ADP	_	19 finger	case
16	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	19 finger	det
17	elongated	elongate	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	19 finger	amod
18	middle	middle	ADJ	Degree=Pos	19 finger	amod
19	finger	finger	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 extracts	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	tap	present	It		bark		vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent upon bark=Destination
2	detect	present		the tunnels of grubs			vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer tunnel=Stimulus
3	extract	present		tunnels = tunnel		with a elongated middle finger	vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme
4	elongate	participle					tree rules

Option 4

It consumes the leaves of grasses at ground level

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 consumes	nsubj
2	consumes	consume	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 leaves	det
4	leaves	leaf	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 consumes	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	6 grasses	case
6	grasses	grass	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 leaves	nmod
7	at	at	ADP	_	9 level	case
8	ground	ground	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 level	compound
9	level	level	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 consumes	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	consume	present	It	the leaves of grasses		ground level			vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent leaf=Asset

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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