Exam question 1 · Animal builders: termite mounds, weaver birds and other ne…

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the principal function of the elevated portion of a termite mound?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris, elevate · To what, where: principal function

This is exam question 1 of lesson 243 «Animal builders: termite mounds, weaver birds and other nest makers» 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 function	det
10	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 function	amod
11	function	function	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
12	of	of	ADP	_	15 portion	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 portion	det
14	elevated	elevate	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	15 portion	amod
15	portion	portion	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 function	nmod
16	of	of	ADP	_	19 mound	case
17	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	19 mound	det
18	termite	termite	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 mound	compound
19	mound	mound	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 portion	nmod
20	?	?	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 principal function of the elevated portion of a termite mound	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	elevate	participle			vn put_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

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 accommodates the entire population of the colony, the queen dwelling at its summit

The tree, 14 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	2 accommodates	nsubj
2	accommodates	accommodate	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 population	det
4	entire	entire	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 population	amod
5	population	population	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 accommodates	obj
6	of	of	ADP	_	8 colony	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 colony	det
8	colony	colony	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 population	nmod
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 queen	punct
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 queen	det
11	queen	queen	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 population	conj
12	dwelling	dwell	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	11 queen	acl
13	at	at	ADP	_	15 summit	case
14	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	15 summit	nmod:poss
15	summit	summit	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 dwelling	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	accommodate	present	It	the entire population of the colony and the queen					vn adjust-26.9 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent population=Patient
2	dwell	gerund	the queen not said here			colony's summit			vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at summit=Location

Option 2

It is a structure abandoned by the termites upon its completion

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 structure	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 structure	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 structure	det
4	structure	structure	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	abandoned	abandon	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 structure	acl
6	by	by	ADP	_	8 termites	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 termites	det
8	termites	termite	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 abandoned	obl
9	upon	upon	ADP	_	11 completion	case
10	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	11 completion	nmod:poss
11	completion	completion	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 abandoned	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a structure		tree rules
2	abandon	participle		a structure not said here	by the termites; upon structure's completion	vn leave-51.2 «NP V NP.initial_location»: agent=Theme
3	complete		structure			nom completion «act transitive»: poss=agent

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

It effects the exchange of stale and fresh air for the colony housed beneath

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 effects	nsubj
2	effects	effect	NOUN	Number=Plur	13 housed	nsubj
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 exchange	det
4	exchange	exchange	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 effects	appos
5	of	of	ADP	_	9 air	case
6	stale	stale	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 air	amod
7	and	and	CCONJ	_	8 fresh	cc
8	fresh	fresh	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 stale	conj
9	air	air	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 exchange	nmod
10	for	for	ADP	_	12 colony	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 colony	det
12	colony	colony	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 air	nmod
13	housed	house	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
14	beneath	beneath	ADV	_	13 housed	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	effect		It			tree rules
2	house	past	effects		beneath property	vn fit-54.3 «NP.location V NP»: agent=Location
3	exchange			stale air for the colony		nom exchange «phenomenon transitive»: of=patient

Option 4

It serves exclusively as a lookout for the detection of predators

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 serves	nsubj
2	serves	serve	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	exclusively	exclusively	ADV	_	2 serves	advmod
4	as	as	ADP	_	6 lookout	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 lookout	det
6	lookout	lookout	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 serves	obl
7	for	for	ADP	_	9 detection	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 detection	det
9	detection	detection	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 serves	obl
10	of	of	ADP	_	11 predators	case
11	predators	predator	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 detection	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	serve	present	It					as a lookout; for the detection of predators; exclusively property	vn masquerade-29.6-2 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Agent as lookout=Attribute
2	detect			predators					nom detection «cognition transitive»: of=patient

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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