Exam question 4 · Madagascar: chameleons, leaf-tailed geckos, tenrecs, baoba…

Ascertain the basis upon which Charles Darwin predicted the existence of a moth with an exceptionally long tongue.

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, Charles, moth · What happens: ascertain, predict, exist · To what, where: basis, existence

This is exam question 4 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	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 basis	det
3	basis	basis	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
4	upon	upon	ADP	_	5 which	case
5	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 predicted	obl
6	Charles	Charles	PROPN	Number=Sing	8 predicted	nsubj
7	Darwin	Darwin	PROPN	Number=Sing	6 Charles	flat
8	predicted	predict	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 basis	acl:relcl
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 existence	det
10	existence	existence	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 predicted	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 moth	case
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 moth	det
13	moth	moth	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 existence	nmod
14	with	with	ADP	_	18 tongue	case
15	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	18 tongue	det
16	exceptionally	exceptionally	ADV	_	17 long	advmod
17	long	long	ADJ	Degree=Pos	18 tongue	amod
18	tongue	tongue	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 moth	nmod
19	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the basis		vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent basis=Topic
2	predict	past	Charles	the existence of a moth with a long tongue	upon the basis	vn indicate-78 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot existence=Topic
3	exist		a moth with a long tongue			nom existence «state intransitive»: of=agent

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

A specimen dispatched to him by a sailor

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 specimen	det
2	specimen	specimen	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	dispatched	dispatch	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 specimen	acl
4	to	to	ADP	_	5 him	case
5	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 dispatched	obl
6	by	by	ADP	_	8 sailor	case
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 sailor	det
8	sailor	sailor	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 dispatched	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	dispatch	participle		a specimen not said here	him = he			by a sailor	vn send-11.1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent to he=Destination

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

The depth of the nectar tube of a Madagascar orchid of about thirty centimetres

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 depth	det
2	depth	depth	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	6 tube	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 tube	det
5	nectar	nectar	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 tube	compound
6	tube	tube	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 depth	nmod
7	of	of	ADP	_	10 orchid	case
8	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 orchid	det
9	Madagascar	Madagascar	PROPN	Number=Sing	10 orchid	compound
10	orchid	orchid	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 tube	nmod
11	of	of	ADP	_	14 centimetres	case
12	about	about	ADV	_	13 thirty	advmod
13	thirty	thirty	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	14 centimetres	nummod
14	centimetres	centimetre	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 orchid	nmod

The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice

The discovery of such a moth in his own garden

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 discovery	det
2	discovery	discovery	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	6 moth	case
4	such	such	DET	PronType=Ind	6 moth	det:predet
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 moth	det
6	moth	moth	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 discovery	nmod
7	in	in	ADP	_	10 garden	case
8	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	10 garden	nmod:poss
9	own	own	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 garden	amod
10	garden	garden	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 moth	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	discover			such moth in his own garden					nom discovery «act transitive»: of=patient

Option 4

The description of such a moth in an ancient text from the island, written by its first explorers

The tree, 18 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 description	det
2	description	description	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	6 moth	case
4	such	such	DET	PronType=Ind	6 moth	det:predet
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 moth	det
6	moth	moth	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 description	nmod
7	in	in	ADP	_	10 text	case
8	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 text	det
9	ancient	ancient	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 text	amod
10	text	text	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 moth	nmod
11	from	from	ADP	_	13 island	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 island	det
13	island	island	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 text	nmod
14	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 written	punct
15	written	write	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 description	acl
16	by	by	ADP	_	19 explorers	case
17	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	19 explorers	nmod:poss
18	first	first	ADJ	Degree=Pos NumForm=Word NumType=Ord	19 explorers	amod
19	explorers	explorer	NOUN	Number=Plur	15 written	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	write	participle		the description of such moth in a ancient text from the island not said here				by island's first explorers	vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	describe			such moth in a ancient text from the island					nom description «communication transitive»: of=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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