Exam question 4 · Myth check: are elephants scared of mice?
Ascertain the means by which certain acacia trees are protected against browsing elephants.
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, the · What happens: ascertain, mean, protect, browse · To what, where: certain acacia trees, elephants · Speech: someone speaks here
This is exam question 4 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 | Ascertain | ascertain | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 means | nsubj |
| 3 | means | mean | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 1 Ascertain | ccomp |
| 4 | by | by | ADP | _ | 5 which | case |
| 5 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 10 protected | obl |
| 6 | certain | certain | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 8 trees | amod |
| 7 | acacia | acacia | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 trees | compound |
| 8 | trees | tree | NOUN | Number=Plur | 10 protected | nsubj:pass |
| 9 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 10 protected | aux:pass |
| 10 | protected | protect | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 3 means | ccomp |
| 11 | against | against | SCONJ | _ | 12 browsing | mark |
| 12 | browsing | browse | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 10 protected | advcl |
| 13 | elephants | elephant | NOUN | Number=Plur | 12 browsing | obj |
| 14 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 1 Ascertain | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ascertain | imperative | you not said here | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 2 | mean | present | the | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 3 | protect | present · passive | certain acacia trees | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Beneficiary | |||||
| 4 | browse | gerund | elephants | 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 · ✓ the right answer
Ants inhabiting the thorns attack the soft interior of the trunk
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ants | ant | NOUN | Number=Plur | 5 attack | nsubj |
| 2 | inhabiting | inhabit | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 1 Ants | acl |
| 3 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 4 thorns | det |
| 4 | thorns | thorn | NOUN | Number=Plur | 2 inhabiting | obj |
| 5 | attack | attack | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 8 interior | det |
| 7 | soft | soft | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 8 interior | amod |
| 8 | interior | interior | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 attack | obj |
| 9 | of | of | ADP | _ | 11 trunk | case |
| 10 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 11 trunk | det |
| 11 | trunk | trunk | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 interior | nmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | inhabit | gerund | Ants not said here | the thorns | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | attack | present | Ants | the soft interior of the trunk | vn attack-60.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent interior=Patient |
Option 2
Mice inhabiting the branches frighten the elephants
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mice | mouse | NOUN | Number=Plur | 5 frighten | nsubj |
| 2 | inhabiting | inhabit | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 1 Mice | acl |
| 3 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 4 branches | det |
| 4 | branches | branch | NOUN | Number=Plur | 2 inhabiting | obj |
| 5 | frighten | frighten | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 elephants | det |
| 7 | elephants | elephant | NOUN | Number=Plur | 5 frighten | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | inhabit | gerund | Mice not said here | the branches | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | frighten | present | Mice | the elephants | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus elephant=Experiencer |
Option 3
The trees are surrounded by tall fences erected around them by the ants
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 trees | det |
| 2 | trees | tree | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 surrounded | nsubj:pass |
| 3 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 surrounded | aux:pass |
| 4 | surrounded | surround | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 5 | by | by | ADP | _ | 7 fences | case |
| 6 | tall | tall | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 7 fences | amod |
| 7 | fences | fence | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 surrounded | obl:agent |
| 8 | erected | erect | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 7 fences | acl |
| 9 | around | around | ADP | _ | 10 them | case |
| 10 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 8 erected | obl |
| 11 | by | by | ADP | _ | 13 ants | case |
| 12 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 13 ants | det |
| 13 | ants | ant | NOUN | Number=Plur | 8 erected | obl:agent |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | surround | present · passive | tall fences | the trees | vn contiguous_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme subject=Co-Theme | ||||
| 2 | erect | participle | tall fences not said here | around trees = tree | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
Option 4
The trees emit a smoke of chilli
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 trees | det |
| 2 | trees | tree | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 emit | nsubj |
| 3 | emit | emit | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 5 smoke | det |
| 5 | smoke | smoke | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 emit | obj |
| 6 | of | of | ADP | _ | 7 chilli | case |
| 7 | chilli | chilli | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 smoke | nmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | emit | present | the trees | a smoke of chilli | vn substance_emission-43.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Source smoke=Theme | ||||
| 2 | smoke | chilli | nom smoke «phenomenon intransitive»: of=agent |
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.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/149-myth-check-are-elephants-scared-of-mice/e4/