Exam question 4 · Foxes and squirrels

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the incisors, or front teeth, of the squirrel.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, established facts · What happens: select, establish, concern · To what, where: consistent, incisors

This is exam question 4 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

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Select	select	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 consistent	det
3	response	response	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 consistent	obl:unmarked
4	consistent	consistent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	1 Select	obj
5	with	with	ADP	_	8 facts	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 facts	det
7	established	establish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 facts	amod
8	facts	fact	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 consistent	obl
9	concerning	concern	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	8 facts	acl
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 incisors	det
11	incisors	incisor	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 concerning	obj
12	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 teeth	punct
13	or	or	CCONJ	_	15 teeth	cc
14	front	front	ADJ	Degree=Pos	15 teeth	amod
15	teeth	tooth	NOUN	Number=Plur	1 Select	obl
16	,	,	PUNCT	_	19 squirrel	punct
17	of	of	ADP	_	19 squirrel	case
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 squirrel	det
19	squirrel	squirrel	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Select	obl
20	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Select	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	select	imperative	you not said here	the consistent	of the squirrel; front teeth obl	vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent consistent=Theme
2	establish	participle				vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot
3	concern	gerund	the established facts not said here	the incisors		vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus incisor=Experiencer

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 · ← Mova's choice

They are absent in adult squirrels

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 absent	nsubj
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 absent	cop
3	absent	absent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
4	in	in	ADP	_	6 squirrels	case
5	adult	adult	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 squirrels	amod
6	squirrels	squirrel	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 absent	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	present	They					in adult squirrels; absent property	tree rules

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

They grow continuously and are worn down by gnawing

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 grow	nsubj
2	grow	grow	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	continuously	continuously	ADV	_	2 grow	advmod
4	and	and	CCONJ	_	6 worn	cc
5	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 worn	aux:pass
6	worn	wear	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 grow	conj
7	down	down	ADP	_	6 worn	compound:prt
8	by	by	SCONJ	_	9 gnawing	mark
9	gnawing	gnaw	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	6 worn	advcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	other	roles by
1	grow	present	They	continuously property	vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	wear down	present · passive	They not said here		vn wipe_manner-10.4.1-1 «NP V PP-Conative»
3	gnaw	gerund	They not said here		vn chew-39.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Option 3

They cease growing at birth

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 cease	nsubj
2	cease	cease	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	growing	grow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	2 cease	xcomp
4	at	at	ADP	_	5 birth	case
5	birth	birth	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 growing	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	cease	present	They						vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality
2	grow	gerund	They not said here			birth			vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at birth=Location

Option 4

They are shed and replaced each winter

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 shed	nsubj
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 shed	aux:pass
3	shed	shed	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	and	and	CCONJ	_	5 replaced	cc
5	replaced	replace	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 shed	conj
6	each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	7 winter	det
7	winter	winter	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 shed	obl:unmarked

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	shed	present · passive		They			winter		vn substance_emission-43.4-1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Source
2	replace	participle							vn substitute-13.6.2-1 «NP V PP.co-theme»: agent=Theme

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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