Exam question 4 · More builders: caddis cases, paper wasps, moles, apes' bed…

Ascertain the reason for which a hummingbird's nest is able to accommodate the growth of the chicks.

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, nest, chicks · What happens: ascertain, be, accommodate, grow · To what, where: reason, growth

This is exam question 4 of lesson 245 «More builders: caddis cases, paper wasps, moles, apes' beds and sand circles» 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	11 able	obl
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 hummingbird	det
7	hummingbird	hummingbird	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 nest	nmod:poss
8	's	's	PART	_	7 hummingbird	case
9	nest	nest	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 able	nsubj
10	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	11 able	cop
11	able	able	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 reason	acl
12	to	to	PART	_	13 accommodate	mark
13	accommodate	accommodate	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	11 able	xcomp
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 growth	det
15	growth	growth	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 accommodate	obj
16	of	of	ADP	_	18 chicks	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 chicks	det
18	chicks	chick	NOUN	Number=Plur	15 growth	nmod
19	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the reason		vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic
2	is	present	a hummingbird's nest		for the reason; able property	tree rules
3	accommodate	to-infinitive	a hummingbird's nest not said here	the growth of the chicks		vn adjust-26.9 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent growth=Patient
4	grow		the chicks			nom growth «process intransitive»: of=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

The parents enlarge it each morning with additional stones from the river bank

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 parents	det
2	parents	parent	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 enlarge	nsubj
3	enlarge	enlarge	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 enlarge	obj
5	each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	6 morning	det
6	morning	morning	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 enlarge	obl:unmarked
7	with	with	ADP	_	9 stones	case
8	additional	additional	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 stones	amod
9	stones	stone	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 enlarge	obl
10	from	from	ADP	_	13 bank	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 bank	det
12	river	river	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 bank	compound
13	bank	bank	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 enlarge	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	enlarge	present	the parents	it		the river bank	morning	with additional stones	vn other_cos-45.4 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent it=Patient with stone=Instrument

Option 2

The chicks vacate it within hours of hatching

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 chicks	det
2	chicks	chick	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 vacate	nsubj
3	vacate	vacate	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 vacate	obj
5	within	within	ADP	_	6 hours	case
6	hours	hour	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 vacate	obl
7	of	of	ADP	_	8 hatching	case
8	hatching	hatching	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 hours	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	vacate	present	the chicks	it			hour		vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme it=Initial_Location

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice

It is constructed of rigid mud which is rebuilt daily

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 constructed	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 constructed	aux:pass
3	constructed	construct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 mud	case
5	rigid	rigid	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 mud	amod
6	mud	mud	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 constructed	obl
7	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	9 rebuilt	nsubj:pass
8	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	9 rebuilt	aux:pass
9	rebuilt	rebuild	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 mud	acl:relcl
10	daily	daily	ADV	_	9 rebuilt	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	construct	present · passive		It				of rigid mud	vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: subject=Result
2	rebuild	present · passive		rigid mud				daily property	vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: subject=Result

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

It is bound with spider silk, which stretches as the chicks increase in size

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	3 bound	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 bound	aux:pass
3	bound	bind	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	with	with	ADP	_	6 silk	case
5	spider	spider	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 silk	compound
6	silk	silk	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 bound	obl
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 stretches	punct
8	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	9 stretches	nsubj
9	stretches	stretch	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 silk	acl:relcl
10	as	as	SCONJ	_	13 increase	mark
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 chicks	det
12	chicks	chick	NOUN	Number=Plur	13 increase	nsubj
13	increase	increase	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	9 stretches	ccomp
14	in	in	ADP	_	15 size	case
15	size	size	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 increase	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	bind	present · passive		It		with spider silk	vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V NP PP»: subject=Patient with silk=Co-Patient
2	stretch	present	spider silk				tree rules
3	increase	present	the chicks		size		vn caused_calibratable_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=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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