Exam question 3 · Goldfish and pond fish: the three-second memory myth

It is given that pond fish are observed near the bottom of a pond during winter. Ascertain the most accurate explanation.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: you · What happens: give, observe, ascertain · To what, where: It, pond fish, bottom, accurate explanation

This is exam question 3 of lesson 204 «Goldfish and pond fish: the three-second memory myth» 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 pond fish are observed near the bottom of a pond during winter.

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	_	8 observed	mark
5	pond	pond	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 fish	compound
6	fish	fish	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 observed	nsubj:pass
7	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	8 observed	aux:pass
8	observed	observe	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 given	advcl
9	near	near	ADP	_	11 bottom	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 bottom	det
11	bottom	bottom	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 observed	obl
12	of	of	ADP	_	14 pond	case
13	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 pond	det
14	pond	pond	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 bottom	nmod
15	during	during	ADP	_	16 winter	case
16	winter	winter	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 observed	obl
17	.	.	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	observe	present · passive		pond fish		the bottom of a pond	winter		vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic

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 accurate 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 accurate	advmod
4	accurate	accurate	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 accurate explanation					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent explanation=Topic

The options

Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

The deepest water remains somewhat warmer, and the fish reduce their activity

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 water	det
2	deepest	deep	ADJ	Degree=Sup	3 water	amod
3	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 remains	nsubj
4	remains	remain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
5	somewhat	somewhat	ADV	_	6 warmer	advmod
6	warmer	warm	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	4 remains	xcomp
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 reduce	punct
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 reduce	cc
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 fish	det
10	fish	fish	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 reduce	nsubj
11	reduce	reduce	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 remains	conj
12	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	13 activity	nmod:poss
13	activity	activity	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 reduce	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	remain	present	the deepest water					warm property	vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	reduce	present	the fish	fish's activity					vn limit-76 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer activity=Patient

Option 2

The surface water is excessively bright

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 water	det
2	surface	surface	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 water	compound
3	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 bright	nsubj
4	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 bright	cop
5	excessively	excessively	ADV	_	6 bright	advmod
6	bright	bright	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	present	the surface water					bright, excessively property	tree rules

Option 3

The fish are engaged in the construction of nests in the mud for the eggs of the spring

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 fish	det
2	fish	fish	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 engaged	nsubj:pass
3	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 engaged	aux:pass
4	engaged	engage	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	in	in	ADP	_	7 construction	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 construction	det
7	construction	construction	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 engaged	obl
8	of	of	ADP	_	9 nests	case
9	nests	nest	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 construction	nmod
10	in	in	ADP	_	12 mud	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 mud	det
12	mud	mud	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 engaged	obl
13	for	for	ADP	_	15 eggs	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 eggs	det
15	eggs	egg	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 engaged	obl
16	of	of	ADP	_	18 spring	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 spring	det
18	spring	spring	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 eggs	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	engage	present · passive		the fish				in the construction of nests goal; in the mud; for the eggs of the spring	vn involve-107.1 «NP V NP PP.goal»: subject=Theme in construction=Goal
2	construct			nests					nom construction «act transitive»: of=patient

Option 4

The fish have perished from the cold

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 fish	det
2	fish	fish	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 perished	nsubj:pass
3	have	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 perished	aux
4	perished	perish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	from	from	ADP	_	7 cold	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 cold	det
7	cold	cold	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 perished	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	perish	present · perfect · passive		the fish		the cold			tree rules

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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