Exam question 3 · Plants deeper: the oldest, tallest and strangest trees
Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the dawn redwood.
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, established facts · What happens: select, establish, concern · To what, where: response, dawn redwood
This is exam question 3 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 | Select | select | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 response | det |
| 3 | response | response | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Select | obj |
| 4 | consistent | consistent | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 1 Select | xcomp |
| 5 | with | with | ADP | _ | 8 facts | case |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 8 facts | det |
| 7 | established | establish | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 8 facts | amod |
| 8 | facts | fact | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 consistent | obl |
| 9 | concerning | concern | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 8 facts | acl |
| 10 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 12 redwood | det |
| 11 | dawn | dawn | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 redwood | compound |
| 12 | redwood | redwood | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 concerning | obj |
| 13 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 1 Select | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | select | imperative | you not said here | the response | consistent property | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme | |||
| 2 | establish | participle | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot | ||||||
| 3 | concern | gerund | the established facts not said here | the dawn redwood | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus redwood=Experiencer |
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 · ✓ the right answer
It was known solely from fossils until living specimens were discovered in China in the 1940s
The tree, 16 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 known | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 3 known | aux:pass |
| 3 | known | know | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 4 | solely | solely | ADV | _ | 3 known | advmod |
| 5 | from | from | ADP | _ | 6 fossils | case |
| 6 | fossils | fossil | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 known | obl |
| 7 | until | until | SCONJ | _ | 11 discovered | mark |
| 8 | living | living | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 9 specimens | amod |
| 9 | specimens | specimen | NOUN | Number=Plur | 11 discovered | nsubj:pass |
| 10 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 11 discovered | aux:pass |
| 11 | discovered | discover | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 3 known | parataxis |
| 12 | in | in | ADP | _ | 13 China | case |
| 13 | China | China | PROPN | Number=Sing | 11 discovered | obl |
| 14 | in | in | ADP | _ | 16 1940s | case |
| 15 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 16 1940s | det |
| 16 | 1940s | 1940 | NOUN | Number=Ptan NumForm=Combi NumType=Card | 11 discovered | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | know | past · passive | It | fossils | solely property | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: subject=Stimulus | |||
| 2 | discover | past · passive | living specimens | China | in the 1940s | vn discover-84-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic |
Option 2
It is the tallest tree presently living
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 | 5 tree | nsubj |
| 2 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 5 tree | cop |
| 3 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 5 tree | det |
| 4 | tallest | tall | ADJ | Degree=Sup | 5 tree | amod |
| 5 | tree | tree | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 6 | presently | presently | ADV | _ | 7 living | advmod |
| 7 | living | live | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 5 tree | acl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is a | present | It | the tallest tree | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | live | gerund | the tallest tree not said here | presently property | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
Option 3
It was first planted by gardeners in the 1990s
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 planted | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 planted | aux:pass |
| 3 | first | first | ADV | NumForm=Word NumType=Ord | 4 planted | advmod |
| 4 | planted | plant | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 5 | by | by | ADP | _ | 6 gardeners | case |
| 6 | gardeners | gardener | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 planted | obl |
| 7 | in | in | ADP | _ | 9 1990s | case |
| 8 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 9 1990s | det |
| 9 | 1990s | 1990s | NOUN | Number=Ptan NumForm=Combi NumType=Card | 4 planted | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | plant | past · passive | gardeners | It | the 1990s | first property | vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent subject=Theme in 1990s=Destination |
Option 4
It has never been discovered in a living state, being known to science only from fossils in rocks
The tree, 18 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 | 5 discovered | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | has | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 5 discovered | aux |
| 3 | never | never | ADV | PronType=Neg | 5 discovered | advmod |
| 4 | been | be | AUX | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 5 discovered | aux:pass |
| 5 | discovered | discover | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 6 | in | in | ADP | _ | 9 state | case |
| 7 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 9 state | det |
| 8 | living | living | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 9 state | amod |
| 9 | state | state | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 discovered | obl |
| 10 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 12 known | punct |
| 11 | being | be | AUX | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 12 known | aux:pass |
| 12 | known | know | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 5 discovered | conj |
| 13 | to | to | ADP | _ | 14 science | case |
| 14 | science | science | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 known | obl |
| 15 | only | only | ADV | _ | 17 fossils | advmod |
| 16 | from | from | ADP | _ | 17 fossils | case |
| 17 | fossils | fossil | NOUN | Number=Plur | 12 known | obl |
| 18 | in | in | ADP | _ | 19 rocks | case |
| 19 | rocks | rock | NOUN | Number=Plur | 12 known | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | not discover | present · perfect · passive | It | a living state | vn discover-84-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic | ||||
| 2 | know | gerund · passive | fossils | to science; in rocks | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V» |
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.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees/e3/