Exam question 1 · Myth check: are elephants scared of mice?

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the alleged fear of mice in elephants.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, established facts · What happens: select, establish, concern, fear · To what, where: response, alleged fear, mice

This is exam question 1 of lesson 149 «Myth check: are elephants scared of mice?» 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	Select	select	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 response	det
3	response	response	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Select	obj
4	consistent	consistent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	1 Select	xcomp
5	with	with	ADP	_	8 facts	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 facts	det
7	established	establish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 facts	amod
8	facts	fact	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 consistent	obl
9	concerning	concern	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	8 facts	acl
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 fear	det
11	alleged	alleged	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 fear	amod
12	fear	fear	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 concerning	obj
13	of	of	ADP	_	14 mice	case
14	mice	mouse	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 fear	nmod
15	in	in	ADP	_	16 elephants	case
16	elephants	elephant	NOUN	Number=Plur	14 mice	nmod
17	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Select	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	select	imperative	you not said here	the response	consistent property	vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme
2	establish	participle				vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot
3	concern	gerund	the established facts not said here	the alleged fear of mice in elephants		vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus fear=Experiencer
4	fear			mice in elephants		nom fear «feeling transitive»: of=patient

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

It is established beyond doubt that elephants fear mice above all other creatures, having been bitten by them

The tree, 18 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	3 established	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 established	aux:pass
3	established	establish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	beyond	beyond	ADP	_	5 doubt	case
5	doubt	doubt	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 established	obl
6	that	that	SCONJ	_	8 fear	mark
7	elephants	elephant	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 fear	nsubj
8	fear	fear	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 established	advcl
9	mice	mouse	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 fear	obj
10	above	above	ADP	_	13 creatures	case
11	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	13 creatures	det
12	other	other	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 creatures	amod
13	creatures	creature	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 fear	obl
14	,	,	PUNCT	_	17 bitten	punct
15	having	have	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	17 bitten	aux
16	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	17 bitten	aux:pass
17	bitten	bite	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 established	conj
18	by	by	ADP	_	19 them	case
19	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	17 bitten	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	establish	present · passive		It		beyond doubt	vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient
2	fear	present	elephants	mice	all other creatures		vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer mouse=Stimulus
3	bite	gerund · perfect · passive	elephants = elephant				vn swat-18.2 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

No sound evidence exists of a particular fear; elephants are startled by any sudden small movement near the feet

The tree, 19 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	No	no	DET	PronType=Neg	3 evidence	det
2	sound	sound	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 evidence	compound
3	evidence	evidence	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 exists	nsubj
4	exists	exist	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
5	of	of	ADP	_	8 fear	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 fear	det
7	particular	particular	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 fear	amod
8	fear	fear	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 exists	obl
9	;	;	PUNCT	_	12 startled	punct
10	elephants	elephant	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 startled	nsubj
11	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	12 startled	aux:pass
12	startled	startle	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 exists	parataxis
13	by	by	ADP	_	17 movement	case
14	any	any	DET	PronType=Ind	17 movement	det
15	sudden	sudden	ADJ	Degree=Pos	17 movement	amod
16	small	small	ADJ	Degree=Pos	17 movement	amod
17	movement	movement	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 startled	obl
18	near	near	ADP	_	20 feet	case
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 feet	det
20	feet	foot	NOUN	Number=Plur	17 movement	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	exist	present	no sound evidence					of a particular fear	vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	startle	present · passive	any sudden small movement near the feet	elephants					vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus subject=Experiencer

Option 3

Elephants are attracted to mice and pursue them

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Elephants	elephant	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 attracted	nsubj:pass
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 attracted	aux:pass
3	attracted	attract	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	to	to	ADP	_	5 mice	case
5	mice	mouse	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 attracted	obl
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	7 pursue	cc
7	pursue	pursue	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 attracted	conj
8	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	7 pursue	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	attract	present · passive		Elephants				to mice result	vn lure-59.3 «NP V NP PP.result»: subject=Patient to mouse=Result
2	pursue	present		Elephants = elephant					vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme

Option 4

Elephants are incapable of perceiving mice

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Elephants	elephant	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 incapable	nsubj
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 incapable	cop
3	incapable	incapable	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
4	of	of	SCONJ	_	5 perceiving	mark
5	perceiving	perceive	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	3 incapable	advcl
6	mice	mouse	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 perceiving	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	present	Elephants					incapable property	tree rules
2	perceive	gerund	Elephants not said here	mice					vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer mouse=Stimulus

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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