Exam question 1 · The Arctic tundra: musk oxen, arctic foxes, snowy owls and…

Identify the principal defensive behaviour adopted by a herd of musk oxen upon the approach of wolves.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, wolves · What happens: identify, adopt, approach · To what, where: principal defensive behaviour

This is exam question 1 of lesson 168 «The Arctic tundra: musk oxen, arctic foxes, snowy owls and the truth about lemmings» 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	Identify	identify	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 behaviour	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 behaviour	amod
4	defensive	defensive	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 behaviour	amod
5	behaviour	behaviour	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
6	adopted	adopt	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 behaviour	acl
7	by	by	ADP	_	9 herd	case
8	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 herd	det
9	herd	herd	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 adopted	obl
10	of	of	ADP	_	12 oxen	case
11	musk	musk	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 oxen	compound
12	oxen	ox	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 herd	nmod
13	upon	upon	ADP	_	15 approach	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 approach	det
15	approach	approach	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 oxen	nmod
16	of	of	ADP	_	17 wolves	case
17	wolves	wolf	NOUN	Number=Plur	15 approach	nmod
18	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	the principal defensive behaviour		vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent behaviour=Theme
2	adopt	participle		the principal defensive behaviour not said here	by a herd of musk oxen upon the approach of wolves	vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
3	approach		wolves			nom approach «act 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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

The formation of a ring with the calves enclosed and the horns outwards

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 formation	det
2	formation	formation	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 enclosed	nsubj
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 ring	case
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 ring	det
5	ring	ring	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 formation	nmod
6	with	with	ADP	_	8 calves	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 calves	det
8	calves	calf	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 ring	nmod
9	enclosed	enclose	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	12 horns	cc
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 horns	det
12	horns	horn	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 enclosed	conj
13	outwards	outwards	ADV	_	9 enclosed	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	enclose	past	the formation of a ring with the calves					outwards property	vn contiguous_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme

Option 2

Dispersal of the herd in all directions

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Dispersal	dispersal	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
2	of	of	ADP	_	4 herd	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 herd	det
4	herd	herd	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Dispersal	nmod
5	in	in	ADP	_	7 directions	case
6	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	7 directions	det
7	directions	direction	NOUN	Number=Plur	1 Dispersal	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	disperse			the herd		all directions			nom dispersal «act transitive»: of=patient in=place

Option 3

Feigning death upon the ground

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Feigning	feign	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
2	death	death	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Feigning	obj
3	upon	upon	ADP	_	5 ground	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 ground	det
5	ground	ground	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Feigning	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	feign	gerund		death				upon the ground	vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent death=Patient

Option 4

The concealment of the calves within burrows excavated in the snow

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 concealment	det
2	concealment	concealment	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 calves	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 calves	det
5	calves	calf	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 concealment	nmod
6	within	within	ADP	_	7 burrows	case
7	burrows	burrow	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 calves	nmod
8	excavated	excavate	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	7 burrows	acl
9	in	in	ADP	_	11 snow	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 snow	det
11	snow	snow	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 excavated	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	excavate	participle		burrows not said here		the snow			vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in snow=Location
2	conceal			the calves within burrows					nom concealment «state 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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