Exam question 3 · More animal myths: red rags, camel humps, porcupine arrows…

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the defence of the porcupine?

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris, defend · To what, where: defence, porcupine

This is exam question 3 of lesson 154 «More animal myths: red rags, camel humps, porcupine arrows, toads and falling cats» 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 defence	det
10	defence	defence	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 porcupine	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 porcupine	det
13	porcupine	porcupine	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 defence	nmod
14	?	?	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 defence of the porcupine	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	defend		the porcupine		nom defence «process 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

Quills are expelled only upon the animal sneezing

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Quills	quill	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 expelled	nsubj:pass
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 expelled	aux:pass
3	expelled	expel	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	only	only	ADV	_	8 sneezing	advmod
5	upon	upon	ADP	_	8 sneezing	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 sneezing	det
7	animal	animal	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 sneezing	compound
8	sneezing	sneezing	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 expelled	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	expel	present · passive		Quills				upon the animal sneezing	vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme

Option 2

Quills contain a venom that is sprayed upon the attacker

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Quills	quill	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 contain	nsubj
2	contain	contain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 venom	det
4	venom	venom	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 contain	obj
5	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	7 sprayed	nsubj
6	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 sprayed	aux:pass
7	sprayed	spray	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 venom	acl:relcl
8	upon	upon	ADP	_	10 attacker	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 attacker	det
10	attacker	attacker	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 sprayed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	contain	present	Quills	a venom					vn comprise-107.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot venom=Theme
2	spray	present · passive		a venom		the attacker			vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme upon attacker=Destination

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

Barbed quills detach upon contact and lodge in the attacker, a warning being given beforehand

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Barbed	barb	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 quills	amod
2	quills	quill	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 detach	nsubj
3	detach	detach	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	upon	upon	ADP	_	5 contact	case
5	contact	contact	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 detach	obl
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	7 lodge	cc
7	lodge	lodge	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 contact	conj
8	in	in	ADP	_	10 attacker	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 attacker	det
10	attacker	attacker	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 lodge	nmod
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 warning	punct
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 warning	det
13	warning	warning	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 contact	conj
14	being	be	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	15 given	aux:pass
15	given	give	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	13 warning	acl
16	beforehand	beforehand	ADV	_	15 given	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	barb	participle				tree rules
2	detach	present	Barbed quills		upon contact and lodge in the attacker and a warning	vn disassemble-23.3 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient
3	give	gerund · passive		a warning not said here	beforehand property	vn break_down-45.8 «NP V»

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice

Quills are discharged at a distance in the manner of arrows

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Quills	quill	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 discharged	nsubj
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 discharged	aux:pass
3	discharged	discharge	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	at	at	ADP	_	6 distance	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 distance	det
6	distance	distance	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 discharged	obl
7	in	in	ADP	_	9 manner	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 manner	det
9	manner	manner	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 distance	nmod
10	of	of	ADP	_	11 arrows	case
11	arrows	arrow	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 manner	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	discharge	present · passive		Quills				at a distance in the manner of arrows	vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP»: subject=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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