Exam question 1 · Plants deeper: the oldest, tallest and strangest trees

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the means by which water ascends a tall tree?

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: the, water · What happens: follow, characteris, mean, ascend · To what, where: tall tree · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 1 of lesson 253 «Plants deeper: the oldest, tallest and strangest trees» 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 means	nsubj
10	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	8 characterises	ccomp
11	by	by	SCONJ	_	14 ascends	mark
12	which	which	DET	PronType=Int	13 water	det
13	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 ascends	nsubj
14	ascends	ascend	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 means	ccomp
15	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	17 tree	det
16	tall	tall	ADJ	Degree=Pos	17 tree	amod
17	tree	tree	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 ascends	obj
18	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present			of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	mean	present	the			vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
4	ascend	present	which water	a tall tree		vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme tree=Trajectory

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

A muscular organ within the trunk propels the water upwards

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 organ	det
2	muscular	muscular	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 organ	amod
3	organ	organ	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 propels	nsubj
4	within	within	ADP	_	6 trunk	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 trunk	det
6	trunk	trunk	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 organ	nmod
7	propels	propel	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 water	det
9	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 propels	obj
10	upwards	upwards	ADV	_	7 propels	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	propel	present	a muscular organ within the trunk	the water				upwards property	tree rules

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice

The roots exert a pressure sufficient by itself to raise water to any height whatsoever, however tall the tree

The tree, 19 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 roots	det
2	roots	root	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 exert	nsubj
3	exert	exert	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 pressure	det
5	pressure	pressure	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 exert	obj
6	sufficient	sufficient	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 exert	xcomp
7	by	by	ADP	_	8 itself	case
8	itself	itself	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs Reflex=Yes	3 exert	obl
9	to	to	PART	_	10 raise	mark
10	raise	raise	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	3 exert	advcl
11	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 raise	obj
12	to	to	ADP	_	14 height	case
13	any	any	DET	PronType=Ind	14 height	det
14	height	height	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 raise	obl
15	whatsoever	whatsoever	ADV	_	10 raise	advmod
16	,	,	PUNCT	_	18 tall	punct
17	however	however	ADV	_	18 tall	advmod
18	tall	tall	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 exert	parataxis
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 tree	det
20	tree	tree	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 tall	nsubj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	exert	infinitive	the roots	a pressure				by pressure; sufficient property	vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pressure=Theme
2	raise	to-infinitive	the roots not said here	water		any height		whatsoever property	vn put_direction-9.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent water=Theme to height=Destination

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

The evaporation of water from the leaves draws a continuous column of water upwards through narrow tubes

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 evaporation	det
2	evaporation	evaporation	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 draws	nsubj
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 water	case
4	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 evaporation	nmod
5	from	from	ADP	_	7 leaves	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 leaves	det
7	leaves	leaf	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 evaporation	nmod
8	draws	draw	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 column	det
10	continuous	continuous	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 column	amod
11	column	column	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 draws	obj
12	of	of	ADP	_	13 water	case
13	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 column	nmod
14	upwards	upwards	ADV	_	8 draws	advmod
15	through	through	ADP	_	17 tubes	case
16	narrow	narrow	ADJ	Degree=Pos	17 tubes	amod
17	tubes	tube	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 draws	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	draw	present	the evaporation of water from the leaves	a continuous column of water		narrow tubes		upwards property	vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent column=Theme
2	evaporate			water		the leaves			nom evaporation «process transitive»: of=patient from=place

Option 4

The water is conveyed upwards by the action of the wind

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 water	det
2	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 conveyed	nsubj:pass
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 conveyed	aux:pass
4	conveyed	convey	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	upwards	upwards	ADV	_	4 conveyed	advmod
6	by	by	ADP	_	8 action	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 action	det
8	action	action	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 conveyed	obl
9	of	of	ADP	_	11 wind	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 wind	det
11	wind	wind	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 action	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	convey	present · passive	the action of the wind	the water				upwards property	vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent subject=Topic
2	act		the wind						nom action «act intransitive»: of=agent

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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