Exam question 4 · Animal builders: beavers, dams and lodges

Ascertain the reason for which the beaver is designated an ecosystem engineer.

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 3 · right ✓ · Who acts: you · What happens: ascertain, designate · To what, where: reason, beaver

This is exam question 4 of lesson 242 «Animal builders: beavers, dams and lodges» 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	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 reason	det
3	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
4	for	for	ADP	_	5 which	case
5	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	9 designated	obl
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 beaver	det
7	beaver	beaver	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 designated	nsubj:pass
8	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	9 designated	aux:pass
9	designated	designate	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 reason	acl:relcl
10	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 engineer	det
11	ecosystem	ecosystem	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 engineer	compound
12	engineer	engineer	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 designated	obj
13	.	.	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 reason					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic
2	designate	present · passive		the beaver				for the reason	vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP NP»: subject=Theme engineer=Attribute

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

It confines its activity exclusively to its own lodge

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 confines	nsubj
2	confines	confine	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	4 activity	nmod:poss
4	activity	activity	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 confines	obj
5	exclusively	exclusively	ADV	_	2 confines	advmod
6	to	to	ADP	_	9 lodge	case
7	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	9 lodge	nmod:poss
8	own	own	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 lodge	amod
9	lodge	lodge	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 confines	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	confine	present	It	its activity		activity's own lodge		exclusively property	vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent activity=Theme to lodge=Destination

Option 2

It is employed by engineers in the construction of bridges across wide rivers

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 employed	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 employed	aux:pass
3	employed	employ	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	ADP	_	5 engineers	case
5	engineers	engineer	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 employed	obl
6	in	in	ADP	_	8 construction	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 construction	det
8	construction	construction	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 employed	obl
9	of	of	ADP	_	10 bridges	case
10	bridges	bridge	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 construction	nmod
11	across	across	ADP	_	13 rivers	case
12	wide	wide	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 rivers	amod
13	rivers	river	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 employed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	employ	present · passive	engineers	It		the construction of bridges		across wide rivers	vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme
2	construct			bridges					nom construction «act transitive»: of=patient

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

Its works alter the landscape and furnish habitats for numerous other species

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	2 works	nmod:poss
2	works	work	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 alter	nsubj
3	alter	alter	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 landscape	det
5	landscape	landscape	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 alter	obj
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	7 furnish	cc
7	furnish	furnish	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 alter	conj
8	habitats	habitat	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 furnish	obj
9	for	for	ADP	_	12 species	case
10	numerous	numerous	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 species	amod
11	other	other	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 species	amod
12	species	species	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 furnish	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	alter	present	Its works	the landscape		vn other_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent landscape=Patient
2	furnish	present	Its works not said here	habitats	for numerous other species	vn fulfilling-13.4.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent habitat=Theme for species=Recipient
3	work		Its = it			nom work «act intransitive»: poss=agent

Option 4

It removes all vegetation from the banks of rivers

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 removes	nsubj
2	removes	remove	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	4 vegetation	det
4	vegetation	vegetation	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 removes	obj
5	from	from	ADP	_	7 banks	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 banks	det
7	banks	bank	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 removes	obl
8	of	of	ADP	_	9 rivers	case
9	rivers	river	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 banks	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	remove	present	It	all vegetation		the banks of rivers			vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent vegetation=Theme from bank=Source

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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