Exam question 3 · Electric senses: electric eels, sharks, the platypus bill…

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the taxonomic position of the electric eel?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris · To what, where: taxonomic position

This is exam question 3 of lesson 231 «Electric senses: electric eels, sharks, the platypus bill and charged bees» 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	Which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 characterises	nsubj
2	of	of	ADP	_	5 statements	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 statements	det
4	following	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 statements	amod
5	statements	statement	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 characterises	obl
6	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	7 accurately	advmod
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	_	8 characterises	advmod
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 position	det
10	taxonomic	taxonomic	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 position	amod
11	position	position	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
12	of	of	ADP	_	15 eel	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 eel	det
14	electric	electric	ADJ	Degree=Pos	15 eel	amod
15	eel	eel	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 position	nmod
16	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund							vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the taxonomic position of the electric eel				of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules

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

It is a true eel of the family of freshwater eels found in European rivers

The tree, 15 words

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	5 eel	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 eel	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 eel	det
4	true	true	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 eel	amod
5	eel	eel	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	of	of	ADP	_	8 family	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 family	det
8	family	family	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 eel	nmod
9	of	of	ADP	_	11 eels	case
10	freshwater	freshwater	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 eels	compound
11	eels	eel	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 family	nmod
12	found	find	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	11 eels	acl
13	in	in	ADP	_	15 rivers	case
14	European	European	ADJ	Degree=Pos	15 rivers	amod
15	rivers	river	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 found	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a true eel				of the family of freshwater eels	tree rules
2	find	participle		freshwater eels not said here		European rivers			vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S_INF»: agent=Agent

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

It is a knifefish, more closely allied to catfishes than to true eels

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	4 knifefish	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 knifefish	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 knifefish	det
4	knifefish	knifefish	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 allied	punct
6	more	more	ADV	Degree=Cmp	8 allied	advmod
7	closely	closely	ADV	_	8 allied	advmod
8	allied	ally	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 knifefish	acl:relcl
9	to	to	ADP	_	10 catfishes	case
10	catfishes	catfishe	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 allied	obl
11	than	than	ADP	_	14 eels	case
12	to	to	ADP	_	14 eels	case
13	true	true	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 eels	amod
14	eels	eel	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 allied	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a knifefish					tree rules
2	ally	participle		a knifefish not said here				to catfishes; than true eels; closely property	vn conspire-71 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Option 3

It is an amphibian of riverine habitat

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	4 amphibian	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 amphibian	cop
3	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 amphibian	det
4	amphibian	amphibian	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	of	of	ADP	_	7 habitat	case
6	riverine	riverine	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 habitat	compound
7	habitat	habitat	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 amphibian	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a amphibian				of riverine habitat	tree rules

Option 4

It is a species of shark

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	4 species	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 species	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 species	det
4	species	species	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	of	of	ADP	_	6 shark	case
6	shark	shark	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 species	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a species				of shark	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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