Exam question 1 · Defences: poison, warning colours and mimics

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the function of bright coloration in poisonous animals?

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

This is exam question 1 of lesson 247 «Defences: poison, warning colours and mimics» 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 function	det
10	function	function	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 coloration	case
12	bright	bright	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 coloration	amod
13	coloration	coloration	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 function	nmod
14	in	in	ADP	_	16 animals	case
15	poisonous	poisonous	ADJ	Degree=Pos	16 animals	amod
16	animals	animal	NOUN	Number=Plur	13 coloration	nmod
17	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund							vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the function of bright coloration in poisonous animals				of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules

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 provides concealment amongst foliage

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 provides	nsubj
2	provides	provide	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	concealment	concealment	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 provides	obj
4	amongst	amongst	ADP	_	5 foliage	case
5	foliage	foliage	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 provides	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	provide	present	It	concealment				amongst foliage	vn ensure-99 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition concealment=Theme

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

It serves as a warning to predators that the animal is unpalatable or harmful

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	as	as	ADP	_	5 warning	case
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 warning	det
5	warning	warning	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 serves	obl
6	to	to	ADP	_	7 predators	case
7	predators	predator	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 serves	obl
8	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	12 unpalatable	nsubj
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 animal	det
10	animal	animal	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 unpalatable	nsubj
11	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	12 unpalatable	cop
12	unpalatable	unpalatable	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 predators	acl:relcl
13	or	or	CCONJ	_	14 harmful	cc
14	harmful	harmful	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 unpalatable	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	other	roles by
1	serve	present	It	as a warning; to predators	vn masquerade-29.6-2 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Agent as warning=Attribute
2	is	present	predators	unpalatable property	tree rules
3	be		predators not said here		tree rules

Option 3

It serves exclusively to attract mates in darkness, the colours glowing at night

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	to	to	PART	_	5 attract	mark
5	attract	attract	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 serves	advcl
6	mates	mate	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 attract	obj
7	in	in	ADP	_	8 darkness	case
8	darkness	darkness	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 attract	obl
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 colours	punct
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 colours	det
11	colours	colour	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 serves	conj
12	glowing	glow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	11 colours	acl
13	at	at	ADP	_	14 night	case
14	night	night	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 glowing	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	serve	present	It				exclusively property	vn masquerade-29.6-2 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Agent
2	attract	to-infinitive		mates	darkness			vn lure-59.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mate=Patient
3	glow	gerund	the colours not said here			night		vn light_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 4

It regulates the temperature of the body

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 regulates	nsubj
2	regulates	regulate	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 temperature	det
4	temperature	temperature	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 regulates	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	7 body	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 body	det
7	body	body	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 temperature	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	regulate	present	It	the temperature of the body					tree rules

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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