Exam question 3 · Cows: cud, milk, burps and the red cape myth

It is given that a herd of cattle is observed lying down in a pasture. Ascertain the conclusion which may properly be drawn.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you · What happens: give, observe, lie down, ascertain, draw · To what, where: It, herd, pasture, conclusion

This is exam question 3 of lesson 209 «Cows: cud, milk, burps and the red cape 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 a herd of cattle is observed lying down in a pasture.

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	_	10 observed	mark
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 herd	det
6	herd	herd	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 observed	nsubj:pass
7	of	of	ADP	_	8 cattle	case
8	cattle	cattle	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 herd	nmod
9	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 observed	aux:pass
10	observed	observe	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 given	advcl
11	lying	lie	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	10 observed	xcomp
12	down	down	ADV	_	11 lying	advmod
13	in	in	ADP	_	15 pasture	case
14	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	15 pasture	det
15	pasture	pasture	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 lying	obl
16	.	.	PUNCT	_	3 given	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	give	present · passive	It			vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	observe	present · passive	a herd of cattle			tree rules
3	lie down	gerund		a pasture	down property	vn assuming_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in pasture=Location

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 conclusion which may properly be drawn.

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 conclusion	det
3	conclusion	conclusion	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
4	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 drawn	nsubj:pass
5	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	8 drawn	aux
6	properly	properly	ADV	_	8 drawn	advmod
7	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	8 drawn	aux:pass
8	drawn	draw	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 conclusion	acl:relcl
9	.	.	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 conclusion					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent conclusion=Topic
2	draw	may · passive		the conclusion				properly property	vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme

The options

Option 1 · ← Mova's choice

Precipitation is certain within the hour, the animals having sensed the approach of the rain

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Precipitation	precipitation	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 certain	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 certain	cop
3	certain	certain	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
4	within	within	ADP	_	6 hour	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 hour	det
6	hour	hour	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 certain	obl
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 sensed	punct
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 animals	det
9	animals	animal	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 sensed	nsubj:pass
10	having	have	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	11 sensed	aux
11	sensed	sense	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 certain	parataxis
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 approach	det
13	approach	approach	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 sensed	obj
14	of	of	ADP	_	16 rain	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 rain	det
16	rain	rain	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 approach	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	when	other	roles by
1	is	present	Precipitation		hour	certain property	tree rules
2	sense	gerund · perfect · passive		the animals			tree rules
3	approach		the rain				nom approach «act intransitive»: of=agent

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

The animals are resting and ruminating, and no forecast of the weather may be inferred

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 animals	det
2	animals	animal	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 resting	nsubj
3	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 resting	aux
4	resting	rest	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
5	and	and	CCONJ	_	6 ruminating	cc
6	ruminating	ruminate	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	4 resting	conj
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	16 inferred	punct
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	16 inferred	cc
9	no	no	DET	PronType=Neg	10 forecast	det
10	forecast	forecast	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 inferred	nsubj:pass
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 weather	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 weather	det
13	weather	weather	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 forecast	nmod
14	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	16 inferred	aux
15	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	16 inferred	aux:pass
16	inferred	infer	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 resting	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	rest	present · progressive	the animals		vn spatial_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	ruminate	gerund	the animals not said here		vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	infer	may · passive		no forecast of the weather	vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
4	forecast			the weather	nom forecast «communication transitive»: of=patient

Option 3

The animals are gravely ill

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 animals	det
2	animals	animal	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 ill	nsubj
3	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 ill	cop
4	gravely	gravely	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 ill	amod
5	ill	ill	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	present	the animals					ill property	tree rules

Option 4

Snowfall is imminent

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Snowfall	snowfall	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 imminent	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 imminent	cop
3	imminent	imminent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	present	Snowfall					imminent property	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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