Exam question 3 · Foxes and squirrels
It is given that a squirrel is observed feigning the burial of a nut while another squirrel watches. Ascertain the most probable purpose.
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: squirrel, you · What happens: give, observe, feign, watch, bury, ascertain · To what, where: It, squirrel, burial, nut, probable purpose
This is exam question 3 of lesson 215 «Foxes and squirrels» 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 squirrel is observed feigning the burial of a nut while another squirrel watches.
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 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 6 squirrel | det |
| 6 | squirrel | squirrel | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 observed | nsubj:pass |
| 7 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 8 observed | aux:pass |
| 8 | observed | observe | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 3 given | advcl |
| 9 | feigning | feign | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 8 observed | xcomp |
| 10 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 11 burial | det |
| 11 | burial | burial | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 feigning | obj |
| 12 | of | of | ADP | _ | 14 nut | case |
| 13 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 14 nut | det |
| 14 | nut | nut | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 burial | nmod |
| 15 | while | while | SCONJ | _ | 18 watches | mark |
| 16 | another | another | DET | PronType=Ind | 17 squirrel | det |
| 17 | squirrel | squirrel | NOUN | Number=Sing | 18 watches | nsubj |
| 18 | watches | watch | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 9 feigning | advcl |
| 19 | . | . | 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 | a squirrel | tree rules | |||||
| 3 | feign | gerund | the burial of a nut | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent burial=Patient | |||||
| 4 | watch | present | another squirrel | vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 5 | bury | a nut | nom burial «event transitive»: of=patient |
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 purpose.
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 purpose | det |
| 3 | most | most | ADV | Degree=Sup | 4 probable | advmod |
| 4 | probable | probable | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 5 purpose | amod |
| 5 | purpose | purpose | 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 purpose | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent purpose=Topic |
The options
Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer
To deceive a potential thief
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | To | to | PART | _ | 2 deceive | mark |
| 2 | deceive | deceive | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 5 thief | det |
| 4 | potential | potential | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 5 thief | amod |
| 5 | thief | thief | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 deceive | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | deceive | to-infinitive | a potential thief | vn trick-59.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thief=Patient |
Option 2
To cause the nut to germinate
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | To | to | PART | _ | 2 cause | mark |
| 2 | cause | cause | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 4 nut | det |
| 4 | nut | nut | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 cause | obj |
| 5 | to | to | PART | _ | 6 germinate | mark |
| 6 | germinate | germinate | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 2 cause | xcomp |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | cause | to-infinitive | the nut | tree rules | |||||
| 2 | germinate | to-infinitive | the nut not said here | vn entity_specific_cos-45.5 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
Option 3
To exercise the muscles of its forepaws
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | To | to | PART | _ | 2 exercise | mark |
| 2 | exercise | exercise | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 4 muscles | det |
| 4 | muscles | muscle | NOUN | Number=Plur | 2 exercise | obj |
| 5 | of | of | ADP | _ | 7 forepaws | case |
| 6 | its | its | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 7 forepaws | nmod:poss |
| 7 | forepaws | forepaw | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 muscles | nmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | exercise | to-infinitive | the muscles of its forepaws | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent muscle=Patient |
Option 4
To conceal the nut from the farmer
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | To | to | PART | _ | 2 conceal | mark |
| 2 | conceal | conceal | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 4 nut | det |
| 4 | nut | nut | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 conceal | obj |
| 5 | from | from | ADP | _ | 7 farmer | case |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 farmer | det |
| 7 | farmer | farmer | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 conceal | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | conceal | to-infinitive | the nut | from the farmer | vn concealment-16 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent nut=Patient from farmer=Beneficiary |
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/215-foxes-and-squirrels/e3/