Exam question 3 · Madagascar: chameleons, leaf-tailed geckos, tenrecs, baoba…

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the means by which the Madagascar hissing cockroach produces its sound?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: the, Madagascar · What happens: follow, characteris, mean, hiss, produce · To what, where: cockroach, sound · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 3 of lesson 164 «Madagascar: chameleons, leaf-tailed geckos, tenrecs, baobabs and a moth Darwin predicted» 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 means	nsubj
10	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	8 characterises	ccomp
11	by	by	ADP	_	12 which	case
12	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	17 produces	obl
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 Madagascar	det
14	Madagascar	Madagascar	PROPN	Number=Sing	17 produces	nsubj
15	hissing	hiss	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	14 Madagascar	acl
16	cockroach	cockroach	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 hissing	obj
17	produces	produce	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 means	ccomp
18	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	19 sound	nmod:poss
19	sound	sound	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 produces	obj
20	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present			of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	mean	present	the			vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
4	hiss	gerund	the Madagascar not said here	cockroach		vn manner_speaking-37.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cockroach=Topic
5	produce	present	the Madagascar	Madagascar's sound		vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sound=Result

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 hind legs are rubbed vigorously against the edges of the wings, as in the cricket

The tree, 16 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 legs	det
2	hind	hind	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 legs	amod
3	legs	leg	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 rubbed	nsubj:pass
4	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 rubbed	aux:pass
5	rubbed	rub	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	vigorously	vigorously	ADV	_	5 rubbed	advmod
7	against	against	ADP	_	9 edges	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 edges	det
9	edges	edge	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 rubbed	obl
10	of	of	ADP	_	12 wings	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 wings	det
12	wings	wing	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 edges	nmod
13	,	,	PUNCT	_	17 cricket	punct
14	as	as	ADP	_	17 cricket	case
15	in	in	ADP	_	17 cricket	case
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 cricket	det
17	cricket	cricket	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 rubbed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	rub	present · passive		the hind legs		the edges of the wings		as the cricket; vigorously property	vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme against edge=Destination

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

Air is expelled through breathing openings situated on its flanks

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Air	air	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 expelled	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 expelled	aux:pass
3	expelled	expel	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	through	through	ADP	_	6 openings	case
5	breathing	breathe	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	6 openings	amod
6	openings	opening	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 expelled	obl
7	situated	situate	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 openings	acl
8	on	on	ADP	_	10 flanks	case
9	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	10 flanks	nmod:poss
10	flanks	flank	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 situated	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	where	roles by
1	expel	present · passive	Air	breathing openings	vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	breathe	gerund			vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	situate	participle	breathing openings not said here	Air's flanks	vn put-9.1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent on flank=Destination

Option 3

The wings are vibrated at great speed

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 wings	det
2	wings	wing	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 vibrated	nsubj:pass
3	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 vibrated	aux:pass
4	vibrated	vibrate	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	at	at	ADP	_	7 speed	case
6	great	great	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 speed	amod
7	speed	speed	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 vibrated	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	vibrate	present · passive		the wings		great speed			vn other_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient

Option 4

The jaws are struck rapidly together

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 jaws	det
2	jaws	jaw	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 struck	nsubj:pass
3	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 struck	aux:pass
4	struck	strike	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	rapidly	rapidly	ADV	_	4 struck	advmod
6	together	together	ADV	_	4 struck	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	strike	present · passive		the jaws				rapidly, together property	vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient

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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