Exam question 3 · Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs?

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the winter habitat of the lemming?

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

This is exam question 3 of lesson 150 «Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs?» 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	11 habitat	det
10	winter	winter	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 habitat	compound
11	habitat	habitat	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
12	of	of	ADP	_	14 lemming	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 lemming	det
14	lemming	lemming	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 habitat	nmod
15	?	?	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 winter habitat of the lemming				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

It dwells within the branches of trees above the snow

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 dwells	nsubj
2	dwells	dwell	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	within	within	ADP	_	5 branches	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 branches	det
5	branches	branch	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 dwells	obl
6	of	of	ADP	_	7 trees	case
7	trees	tree	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 branches	nmod
8	above	above	ADP	_	10 snow	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 snow	det
10	snow	snow	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 dwells	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	dwell	present	It			the snow		within the branches of trees	vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme above snow=Location

Option 2

It migrates in great numbers to warmer latitudes for the duration of the winter and returns in spring

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	2 migrates	nsubj
2	migrates	migrate	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	in	in	ADP	_	5 numbers	case
4	great	great	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 numbers	amod
5	numbers	number	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 migrates	obl
6	to	to	ADP	_	8 latitudes	case
7	warmer	warm	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	8 latitudes	amod
8	latitudes	latitude	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 migrates	obl
9	for	for	ADP	_	11 duration	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 duration	det
11	duration	duration	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 migrates	obl
12	of	of	ADP	_	14 winter	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 winter	det
14	winter	winter	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 duration	nmod
15	and	and	CCONJ	_	16 returns	cc
16	returns	return	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 migrates	conj
17	in	in	ADP	_	18 spring	case
18	spring	spring	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 returns	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	migrate	present	It			great numbers		to warmer latitudes; for the duration of the winter	tree rules
2	return	present					spring		vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

It dwells in a space between the ground and the snow, the snow serving to insulate it

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 dwells	nsubj
2	dwells	dwell	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	in	in	ADP	_	5 space	case
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 space	det
5	space	space	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 dwells	obl
6	between	between	ADP	_	8 ground	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 ground	det
8	ground	ground	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 space	nmod
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 snow	cc
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 snow	det
11	snow	snow	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 ground	conj
12	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 snow	punct
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 snow	det
14	snow	snow	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 space	conj
15	serving	serve	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	14 snow	acl
16	to	to	PART	_	17 insulate	mark
17	insulate	insulate	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	15 serving	xcomp
18	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	17 insulate	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	dwell	present	It		a space between the ground and the snow and the snow	vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in space=Location
2	serve	gerund	the snow not said here			tree rules
3	insulate	to-infinitive	the snow not said here	snow		vn butter-9.9 «NP V NP.destination»: agent=Agent it=Destination

Option 4

It hibernates within the sea beneath the ice

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 hibernates	nsubj
2	hibernates	hibernate	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	within	within	ADP	_	5 sea	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 sea	det
5	sea	sea	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 hibernates	obl
6	beneath	beneath	ADP	_	8 ice	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 ice	det
8	ice	ice	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 hibernates	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	hibernate	present	It					within the sea; beneath the ice	vn fit-54.3 «NP.location V NP»: agent=Location

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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