Exam question 2 · The Southern Ocean: blue whales, colossal squid and life u…
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the means by which a starfish digests its prey?
Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · Who acts: the, starfish · What happens: follow, characteris, mean, digest · To what, where: prey · Speech: someone speaks here
This is exam question 2 of lesson 171 «The Southern Ocean: blue whales, colossal squid and life under the ice» 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 | 15 digests | obl |
| 13 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 14 starfish | det |
| 14 | starfish | starfish | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 digests | nsubj |
| 15 | digests | digest | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 10 means | ccomp |
| 16 | its | its | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 17 prey | nmod:poss |
| 17 | prey | prey | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 digests | obj |
| 18 | ? | ? | 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 | 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 | digest | present | a starfish | starfish's prey | 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
Food is masticated by means of numerous teeth
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Food | food | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 masticated | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 masticated | aux:pass |
| 3 | masticated | masticate | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 5 means | nsubj |
| 4 | by | by | ADP | _ | 5 means | case |
| 5 | means | mean | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 6 | of | of | ADP | _ | 8 teeth | case |
| 7 | numerous | numerous | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 8 teeth | amod |
| 8 | teeth | tooth | NOUN | Number=Plur | 5 means | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | masticate | present · passive | Food | vn chew-39.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient | |||||
| 2 | mean | present | of numerous teeth | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
Option 2
Food is dissolved by venom injected through the spines
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Food | food | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 dissolved | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 dissolved | aux:pass |
| 3 | dissolved | dissolve | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 4 | by | by | ADP | _ | 5 venom | case |
| 5 | venom | venom | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 dissolved | obl |
| 6 | injected | inject | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 5 venom | acl |
| 7 | through | through | ADP | _ | 9 spines | case |
| 8 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 9 spines | det |
| 9 | spines | spine | NOUN | Number=Plur | 6 injected | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | dissolve | present · passive | venom | Food | vn break-45.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient | ||||
| 2 | inject | participle | venom not said here | the spines | vn eat-39.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
Option 3
Prey is absorbed exclusively through the arms
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prey | prey | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 absorbed | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 absorbed | aux:pass |
| 3 | absorbed | absorb | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 4 | exclusively | exclusively | ADV | _ | 3 absorbed | advmod |
| 5 | through | through | ADP | _ | 7 arms | case |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 arms | det |
| 7 | arms | arm | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 absorbed | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | absorb | present · passive | Prey | the arms | exclusively property | vn absorb-39.8 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer
The stomach is extended outside the body and digestion occurs externally
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 stomach | det |
| 2 | stomach | stomach | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 extended | nsubj:pass |
| 3 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 extended | aux:pass |
| 4 | extended | extend | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 5 | outside | outside | ADP | _ | 7 body | case |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 body | det |
| 7 | body | body | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 extended | obl |
| 8 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 10 occurs | cc |
| 9 | digestion | digestion | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 occurs | nsubj |
| 10 | occurs | occur | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 extended | conj |
| 11 | externally | externally | ADV | _ | 10 occurs | advmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | extend | present · passive | the stomach | outside the body | vn body_motion-49.2-1 «NP V NP ADV»: subject=Theme | ||||
| 2 | occur | present | digestion | externally property | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=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.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/171-the-southern-ocean-blue-whales-colossal-squid-and-life-under-the-ice/e2/