Exam question 4 · Animal builders: spiders' webs and silk

Ascertain the manner in which the diving bell spider obtains air whilst living beneath the surface of a pond.

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, diving bell spider · What happens: ascertain, obtain, live · To what, where: manner, air, surface

This is exam question 4 of lesson 244 «Animal builders: spiders' webs and silk» 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 manner	det
3	manner	manner	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
4	in	in	ADP	_	5 which	case
5	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	10 obtains	obl
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 spider	det
7	diving	diving	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 spider	compound
8	bell	bell	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 spider	compound
9	spider	spider	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 obtains	nsubj
10	obtains	obtain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 manner	acl:relcl
11	air	air	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 obtains	obj
12	whilst	whilst	SCONJ	_	13 living	mark
13	living	live	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	10 obtains	advcl
14	beneath	beneath	ADP	_	16 surface	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 surface	det
16	surface	surface	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 living	obl
17	of	of	ADP	_	19 pond	case
18	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	19 pond	det
19	pond	pond	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 surface	nmod
20	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the manner		vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent manner=Topic
2	obtain	present	the diving bell spider	air	the manner	vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset air=Theme
3	live	gerund	the diving bell spider not said here		the surface of a pond	vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme beneath surface=Location

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 abstains from breathing for the duration of its life

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 abstains	nsubj
2	abstains	abstain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	from	from	SCONJ	_	4 breathing	mark
4	breathing	breathe	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 abstains	advcl
5	for	for	ADP	_	7 duration	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 duration	det
7	duration	duration	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 breathing	obl
8	of	of	ADP	_	10 life	case
9	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	10 life	nmod:poss
10	life	life	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 duration	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	abstain	present	It						vn refrain-69 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	breathe	gerund						for the duration of duration's life	vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Option 2

It respires through a hollow plant stem fixed above the water at the surface

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 respires	nsubj
2	respires	respire	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	through	through	ADP	_	7 stem	case
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 stem	det
5	hollow	hollow	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 stem	amod
6	plant	plant	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 stem	compound
7	stem	stem	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 respires	obl
8	fixed	fix	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	7 stem	acl
9	above	above	ADP	_	11 water	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 water	det
11	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 fixed	obl
12	at	at	ADP	_	14 surface	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 surface	det
14	surface	surface	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 fixed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	respire	present	It			a hollow plant stem			tree rules
2	fix	participle		a hollow plant stem not said here		the water		at the surface	vn price-54.4 «NP V NP PP.value»: agent=Agent at surface=Value

Option 3

It extracts air from the water through gills in the manner of a fish

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 extracts	nsubj
2	extracts	extract	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	air	air	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 extracts	obj
4	from	from	ADP	_	6 water	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 water	det
6	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 extracts	obl
7	through	through	ADP	_	8 gills	case
8	gills	gill	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 extracts	obl
9	in	in	ADP	_	11 manner	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 manner	det
11	manner	manner	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 extracts	obl
12	of	of	ADP	_	14 fish	case
13	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 fish	det
14	fish	fish	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 manner	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	extract	present	It	air		the water		through gills; in the manner of a fish	vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent air=Theme from water=Initial_Location

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

It maintains a tent of silk replenished with air conveyed from the surface

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	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 tent	det
4	tent	tent	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 maintains	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	6 silk	case
6	silk	silk	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 tent	nmod
7	replenished	replenish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 silk	acl
8	with	with	ADP	_	9 air	case
9	air	air	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 replenished	obl
10	conveyed	convey	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	9 air	acl
11	from	from	ADP	_	13 surface	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 surface	det
13	surface	surface	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 conveyed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	maintain	present	It	a tent of silk			vn declare-29.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent tent=Theme
2	replenish	participle		silk not said here		with air	vn fill-9.8 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent with air=Theme
3	convey	participle		air not said here	the surface		vn send-11.1 «NP V NP PP.initial_location»: agent=Agent from surface=Initial_Location

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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