Exam question 3 · Spider-Man: real spider silk and webs
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the manner in which spiders consume their prey?
Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 2 · right ✓ · Who acts: spiders · What happens: follow, characteris, consume · To what, where: manner, prey
This is exam question 3 of lesson 147 «Spider-Man: real spider silk and webs» 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 manner | det |
| 10 | manner | manner | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 characterises | obj |
| 11 | in | in | ADP | _ | 12 which | case |
| 12 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 14 consume | obl |
| 13 | spiders | spider | NOUN | Number=Plur | 14 consume | nsubj |
| 14 | consume | consume | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 10 manner | acl:relcl |
| 15 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 16 prey | nmod:poss |
| 16 | prey | prey | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 consume | obj |
| 17 | ? | ? | 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 manner | of the following statements; accurately property | tree rules | ||||
| 3 | consume | present | spiders | spiders's prey | the manner | vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent prey=Asset |
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
They masticate their prey thoroughly with numerous small teeth situated in the jaws
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | They | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 2 masticate | nsubj |
| 2 | masticate | masticate | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 4 prey | nmod:poss |
| 4 | prey | prey | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 masticate | obj |
| 5 | thoroughly | thoroughly | ADV | _ | 2 masticate | advmod |
| 6 | with | with | ADP | _ | 9 teeth | case |
| 7 | numerous | numerous | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 9 teeth | amod |
| 8 | small | small | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 9 teeth | amod |
| 9 | teeth | tooth | NOUN | Number=Plur | 2 masticate | obl |
| 10 | situated | situate | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 9 teeth | acl |
| 11 | in | in | ADP | _ | 13 jaws | case |
| 12 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 13 jaws | det |
| 13 | jaws | jaw | NOUN | Number=Plur | 10 situated | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | masticate | present | They | their prey | with numerous small teeth; thoroughly property | vn chew-39.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent prey=Patient | |||
| 2 | situate | participle | numerous small teeth not said here | the jaws | vn put-9.1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent in jaw=Destination |
Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer
Being unable to chew, they apply digestive fluid and ingest the resulting liquid
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Being | be | AUX | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 2 unable | cop |
| 2 | unable | unable | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 3 | to | to | PART | _ | 4 chew | mark |
| 4 | chew | chew | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 2 unable | xcomp |
| 5 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 7 apply | punct |
| 6 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 7 apply | nsubj |
| 7 | apply | apply | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 2 unable | parataxis |
| 8 | digestive | digestive | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 9 fluid | amod |
| 9 | fluid | fluid | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 apply | obj |
| 10 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 11 ingest | cc |
| 11 | ingest | ingest | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 7 apply | conj |
| 12 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 14 liquid | det |
| 13 | resulting | result | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 14 liquid | amod |
| 14 | liquid | liquid | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 ingest | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | gerund | unable property | tree rules | |||||
| 2 | chew | to-infinitive | vn chew-39.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ||||||
| 3 | apply | present | they | digestive fluid | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fluid=Theme | ||||
| 4 | ingest | infinitive | they not said here | the resulting liquid | vn absorb-39.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Goal liquid=Theme | ||||
| 5 | result | gerund | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
Option 3
They swallow their prey whole and entire
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | They | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 2 swallow | nsubj |
| 2 | swallow | swallow | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 4 prey | nmod:poss |
| 4 | prey | prey | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 swallow | obj |
| 5 | whole | whole | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 2 swallow | xcomp |
| 6 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 7 entire | cc |
| 7 | entire | entire | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 5 whole | conj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | swallow | present | They | their prey | whole property | vn gobble-39.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent prey=Patient |
Option 4
They store their prey indefinitely without consumption
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | They | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 2 store | nsubj |
| 2 | store | store | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 4 prey | nmod:poss |
| 4 | prey | prey | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 store | obj |
| 5 | indefinitely | indefinitely | ADV | _ | 2 store | advmod |
| 6 | without | without | ADP | _ | 7 consumption | case |
| 7 | consumption | consumption | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 store | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | store | present | They | their prey | without consumption; indefinitely property | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent prey=Theme |
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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