Exam question 4 · Guinea pigs: wheeks, popcorning and vitamin C
It is given that a young guinea pig leaps vertically and twists in mid-air. Ascertain the most probable explanation.
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: young guinea pig, you · What happens: give, leap, twist, ascertain · To what, where: It, mid-air, probable explanation
This is exam question 4 of lesson 201 «Guinea pigs: wheeks, popcorning and vitamin C» 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
Sentence 1: It is given that a young guinea pig leaps vertically and twists in mid-air.
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | It | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 3 given | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 given | aux:pass |
| 3 | given | give | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 4 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 9 leaps | mark |
| 5 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 8 pig | det |
| 6 | young | young | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 8 pig | amod |
| 7 | guinea | guinea | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 pig | compound |
| 8 | pig | pig | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 leaps | nsubj |
| 9 | leaps | leap | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 given | advcl |
| 10 | vertically | vertically | ADV | _ | 9 leaps | advmod |
| 11 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 12 twists | cc |
| 12 | twists | twist | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 9 leaps | conj |
| 13 | in | in | ADP | _ | 14 mid-air | case |
| 14 | mid-air | mid-air | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 twists | obl |
| 15 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 3 given | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | give | present · passive | It | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | |||||
| 2 | leap | present | a young guinea pig | vertically property | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 3 | twist | present | a young guinea pig not said here | mid-air | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme in mid-air=Trajectory |
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.
Sentence 2: Ascertain the most probable explanation.
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 | 5 explanation | det |
| 3 | most | most | ADV | Degree=Sup | 4 probable | advmod |
| 4 | probable | probable | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 5 explanation | amod |
| 5 | explanation | explanation | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Ascertain | obj |
| 6 | . | . | 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 probable explanation | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent explanation=Topic |
The options
Option 1 · ← Mova's choice
The behaviour signifies the onset of hibernation
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 behaviour | det |
| 2 | behaviour | behaviour | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 signifies | nsubj |
| 3 | signifies | signify | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 5 onset | det |
| 5 | onset | onset | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 signifies | obj |
| 6 | of | of | ADP | _ | 7 hibernation | case |
| 7 | hibernation | hibernation | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 onset | nmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | signify | present | the behaviour | the onset of hibernation | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot onset=Theme |
Option 2
The behaviour signifies an acute deficiency of vitamin C
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 behaviour | det |
| 2 | behaviour | behaviour | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 signifies | nsubj |
| 3 | signifies | signify | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | an | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 6 deficiency | det |
| 5 | acute | acute | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 6 deficiency | amod |
| 6 | deficiency | deficiency | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 signifies | obj |
| 7 | of | of | ADP | _ | 9 C | case |
| 8 | vitamin | vitamin | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 C | compound |
| 9 | C | c | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 deficiency | nmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | signify | present | the behaviour | a acute deficiency of vitamin C | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot deficiency=Theme |
Option 3 · ✓ the right answer
The behaviour, termed popcorning, signifies excitement and contentment
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 behaviour | det |
| 2 | behaviour | behaviour | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 signifies | nsubj |
| 3 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 5 popcorning | punct |
| 4 | termed | term | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 5 popcorning | amod |
| 5 | popcorning | popcorning | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 behaviour | conj |
| 6 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 2 behaviour | punct |
| 7 | signifies | signify | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 8 | excitement | excitement | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 signifies | obj |
| 9 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 10 contentment | cc |
| 10 | contentment | contentment | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 excitement | conj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | term | participle | vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | ||||||
| 2 | signify | present | the behaviour and termed popcorning | excitement and contentment | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot excitement=Theme |
Option 4
The behaviour signifies an attempt to escape a predator
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 behaviour | det |
| 2 | behaviour | behaviour | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 signifies | nsubj |
| 3 | signifies | signify | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | an | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 5 attempt | det |
| 5 | attempt | attempt | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 signifies | obj |
| 6 | to | to | PART | _ | 7 escape | mark |
| 7 | escape | escape | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 5 attempt | acl |
| 8 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 9 predator | det |
| 9 | predator | predator | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 escape | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | signify | present | the behaviour | a attempt | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot attempt=Theme | ||||
| 2 | escape | to-infinitive | the behaviour not said here | a predator | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme predator=Initial_Location |
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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