Exam question 1 · Team players and partners: meerkats, naked mole rats, hudd…

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the conduct of a meerkat sentinel?

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

This is exam question 1 of lesson 241 «Team players and partners: meerkats, naked mole rats, huddles, cleaners (and do lemmings jump?)» 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	10 conduct	det
10	conduct	conduct	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	14 sentinel	case
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 sentinel	det
13	meerkat	meerkat	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 sentinel	compound
14	sentinel	sentinel	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 conduct	nmod
15	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund			vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present	the conduct of a meerkat sentinel	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	conduct		a meerkat sentinel		nom conduct «act 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.

The options

Option 1 · ← Mova's choice

It consumes the food gathered by its companions while they are distracted

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	2 consumes	nsubj
2	consumes	consume	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 food	det
4	food	food	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 consumes	obj
5	gathered	gather	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 food	acl
6	by	by	ADP	_	8 companions	case
7	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	8 companions	nmod:poss
8	companions	companion	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 gathered	obl
9	while	while	SCONJ	_	12 distracted	mark
10	they	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	12 distracted	nsubj:pass
11	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	12 distracted	aux:pass
12	distracted	distract	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 consumes	advcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	consume	present	It	the food		vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent food=Asset
2	gather	participle		the food not said here	by food's companions	vn herd-47.5.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme
3	distract	present · passive		companions = companion		vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

It maintains watch for predators while its companions forage, issuing distinct alarm calls

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	2 maintains	nsubj
2	maintains	maintain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	watch	watch	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 maintains	xcomp
4	for	for	ADP	_	5 predators	case
5	predators	predator	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 watch	obl
6	while	while	SCONJ	_	9 forage	mark
7	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	8 companions	nmod:poss
8	companions	companion	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 forage	compound
9	forage	forage	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 maintains	advcl
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 issuing	punct
11	issuing	issue	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 maintains	advcl
12	distinct	distinct	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 calls	amod
13	alarm	alarm	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 calls	compound
14	calls	call	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 issuing	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	maintain	present	It			vn declare-29.4-1 «NP V what S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
2	watch	infinitive			for predators	vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.theme NP.location»: agent=Agent for predator=Theme
3	issue	gerund		distinct alarm calls		vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location call=Theme

Option 3

It forages alone and avoids the group entirely

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	2 forages	nsubj
2	forages	forage	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	alone	alone	ADV	_	2 forages	advmod
4	and	and	CCONJ	_	5 avoids	cc
5	avoids	avoid	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 forages	conj
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 group	det
7	group	group	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 avoids	obj
8	entirely	entirely	ADV	_	5 avoids	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	forage	present	It					alone property	vn rummage-35.5-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent
2	avoid	present		the group				entirely property	vn avoid-52 «NP V NP.location»: agent=Agent group=Location

Option 4

It remains permanently in that office throughout its whole life, never digging

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	2 remains	nsubj
2	remains	remain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	permanently	permanently	ADV	_	2 remains	advmod
4	in	in	ADP	_	6 office	case
5	that	that	DET	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	6 office	det
6	office	office	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 remains	obl
7	throughout	throughout	ADP	_	10 life	case
8	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	10 life	nmod:poss
9	whole	whole	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 life	amod
10	life	life	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 remains	obl
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 digging	punct
12	never	never	ADV	PronType=Neg	13 digging	advmod
13	digging	dig	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 remains	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	remain	present	It			that office	throughout office's whole life	permanently property	vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in office=Location
2	not dig	gerund							vn create-26.4-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent

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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