Exam question 2 · Ducks, geese and farm myths

Identify the principal reason for which geese fly in a V formation.

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 3 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, geese · What happens: identify, fly · To what, where: principal reason, V formation

This is exam question 2 of lesson 213 «Ducks, geese and farm myths» 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	Identify	identify	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 reason	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 reason	amod
4	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
5	for	for	ADP	_	6 which	case
6	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 fly	obl
7	geese	goose	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 fly	nsubj
8	fly	fly	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 reason	acl:relcl
9	in	in	ADP	_	12 formation	case
10	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 formation	det
11	V	v	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 formation	compound
12	formation	formation	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 fly	obl
13	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	the principal reason					vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme
2	fly	present	geese			a V formation		for the principal reason	vn spatial_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V NP.theme PP»: agent=Agent in formation=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.

The options

Option 1

The formation spells a letter for observers below

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 formation	det
2	formation	formation	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 spells	nsubj
3	spells	spell	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 letter	det
5	letter	letter	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 spells	obj
6	for	for	ADP	_	7 observers	case
7	observers	observer	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 letter	nmod
8	below	below	ADV	_	7 observers	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	spell	present	the formation	a letter				for observers	vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Agent letter=Theme

Option 2

The leading bird alone knows the destination, the others following it closely so as not to lose the way

The tree, 19 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 bird	det
2	leading	lead	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	3 bird	amod
3	bird	bird	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 knows	nsubj
4	alone	alone	ADV	_	3 bird	advmod
5	knows	know	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 destination	det
7	destination	destination	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 knows	obj
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 others	punct
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 others	det
10	others	other	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 destination	conj
11	following	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	10 others	acl
12	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	11 following	obj
13	closely	closely	ADV	_	5 knows	advmod
14	so	so	ADV	_	18 lose	advmod
15	as	as	SCONJ	_	18 lose	mark
16	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	18 lose	advmod
17	to	to	PART	_	18 lose	mark
18	lose	lose	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	5 knows	advcl
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 way	det
20	way	way	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 lose	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	lead	gerund				vn result-27.2 «NP V PP»: agent=Precondition
2	know	present	the leading bird	the destination and the others	closely property	vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer destination=Stimulus
3	follow	gerund	the others not said here	bird		vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme
4	not lose	to-infinitive	the leading bird not said here	the way		vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent way=Eventuality

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

Each bird derives lift from the air rising off the wingtip of the bird preceding it, thereby conserving energy

The tree, 19 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	2 bird	det
2	bird	bird	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 derives	nsubj
3	derives	derive	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	lift	lift	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 derives	obj
5	from	from	ADP	_	7 air	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 air	det
7	air	air	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 derives	obl
8	rising	rise	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	7 air	acl
9	off	off	ADP	_	11 wingtip	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 wingtip	det
11	wingtip	wingtip	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 rising	obl
12	of	of	ADP	_	14 bird	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 bird	det
14	bird	bird	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 wingtip	nmod
15	preceding	precede	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	14 bird	acl
16	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	15 preceding	obj
17	,	,	PUNCT	_	19 conserving	punct
18	thereby	thereby	ADV	_	19 conserving	advmod
19	conserving	conserve	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	3 derives	advcl
20	energy	energy	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 conserving	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	derive	present	each bird	lift	the air		vn create-26.4 «NP V NP PP.material»: agent=Agent lift=Result from air=Material
2	rise	gerund	the air not said here		the wingtip of the bird		vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme off wingtip=Initial_Location
3	precede	gerund	the bird not said here	bird			vn contiguous_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme it=Co-Theme
4	conserve	gerund	each bird not said here	energy		thereby property	tree rules

Option 4

The formation permits communication by gesture

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 formation	det
2	formation	formation	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 permits	nsubj
3	permits	permit	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	communication	communication	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 permits	obj
5	by	by	ADP	_	6 gesture	case
6	gesture	gesture	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 permits	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	permit	present	the formation	communication				by gesture	vn admit-64.3-1 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent communication=Theme by gesture=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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