Exam question 3 · Deserts of the world: fennec foxes, fog-drinking beetles,…

Ascertain the function of the spines borne by a cactus.

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 2 · right ✓ · Who acts: you · What happens: ascertain, bear · To what, where: function, spines

This is exam question 3 of lesson 182 «Deserts of the world: fennec foxes, fog-drinking beetles, camels and silver ants» 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 function	det
3	function	function	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 spines	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 spines	det
6	spines	spine	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 function	nmod
7	borne	bear	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 spines	acl
8	by	by	ADP	_	10 cactus	case
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 cactus	det
10	cactus	cactus	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 borne	obl
11	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the function of the spines					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent function=Topic
2	bear	participle		the spines not said here				by a cactus	vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer

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

They are roots which have emerged above ground

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 roots	nsubj
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 roots	cop
3	roots	root	NOUN	Number=Plur	root	root
4	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	6 emerged	nsubj
5	have	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 emerged	aux
6	emerged	emerge	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	3 roots	acl:relcl
7	above	above	ADP	_	8 ground	case
8	ground	ground	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 emerged	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	They	roots					tree rules
2	emerge	present · perfect	roots			ground			vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme above ground=Location

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

They are modified leaves which shade the plant and deter herbivores

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	4 leaves	nsubj
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 leaves	cop
3	modified	modify	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 leaves	amod
4	leaves	leaf	NOUN	Number=Plur	root	root
5	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	6 shade	nsubj
6	shade	shade	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 leaves	acl:relcl
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 plant	det
8	plant	plant	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 shade	obj
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 deter	cc
10	deter	deter	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 shade	conj
11	herbivores	herbivore	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 deter	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	modify	participle			vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient
2	is a	present	They	modified leaves	tree rules
3	shade	present	modified leaves	the plant	vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent plant=Beneficiary
4	deter	present	modified leaves not said here	herbivores	vn discourage-64.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer herbivore=Eventuality

Option 3

They serve as organs of reproduction

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 serve	nsubj
2	serve	serve	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	as	as	ADP	_	4 organs	case
4	organs	organ	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 serve	obl
5	of	of	ADP	_	6 reproduction	case
6	reproduction	reproduction	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 organs	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	serve	present	They					as organs of reproduction	vn masquerade-29.6-2 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Agent as organ=Attribute

Option 4

They absorb rainwater directly from the air

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 absorb	nsubj
2	absorb	absorb	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	rainwater	rainwater	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 absorb	obj
4	directly	directly	ADV	_	2 absorb	advmod
5	from	from	ADP	_	7 air	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 air	det
7	air	air	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 absorb	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	absorb	present	They	rainwater		the air		directly property	vn absorb-39.8 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Goal rainwater=Theme from air=Source

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/182-deserts-of-the-world-fennec-foxes-fog-drinking-beetles-camels-and-silver-ants/e3/