Exam question 4 · Plants deeper: the oldest, tallest and strangest trees

Ascertain the reason for which the precise location of the tree known as Hyperion is withheld from the public.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you · What happens: ascertain, know, withhold · To what, where: reason, tree, precise location, public

This is exam question 4 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	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	16 withheld	obl
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 location	det
7	precise	precise	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 location	amod
8	location	location	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 withheld	nsubj:pass
9	of	of	ADP	_	11 tree	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 tree	det
11	tree	tree	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 location	nmod
12	known	know	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	11 tree	acl
13	as	as	ADP	_	14 Hyperion	case
14	Hyperion	Hyperion	PROPN	Number=Sing	12 known	obl
15	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	16 withheld	aux:pass
16	withheld	withhold	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 reason	acl:relcl
17	from	from	ADP	_	19 public	case
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 public	det
19	public	public	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 withheld	obl
20	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the reason			vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic
2	know	participle		the tree not said here		as Hyperion	vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer as hyperion=Attribute
3	withhold	present · passive		the precise location of the tree	the public	for the reason	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

The tree having been felled many years ago

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 tree	det
2	tree	tree	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 felled	nsubj:pass
3	having	have	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	5 felled	aux
4	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	5 felled	aux:pass
5	felled	fell	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	many	many	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 years	amod
7	years	year	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 felled	obl:unmarked
8	ago	ago	ADV	_	5 felled	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	fell	gerund · perfect · passive		the tree			year	ago property	tree rules

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

The protection of the tree from damage by numerous visitors

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 protection	det
2	protection	protection	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 tree	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 tree	det
5	tree	tree	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 protection	nmod
6	from	from	ADP	_	7 damage	case
7	damage	damage	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 tree	nmod
8	by	by	ADP	_	10 visitors	case
9	numerous	numerous	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 visitors	amod
10	visitors	visitor	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 protection	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	protect		numerous visitors	the tree from damage					nom protection «act transitive»: of=patient by=agent

Option 3

The tree being situated upon private property abroad, in a distant country

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 tree	det
2	tree	tree	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 situated	nsubj:pass
3	being	be	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	4 situated	aux:pass
4	situated	situate	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	upon	upon	ADP	_	7 property	case
6	private	private	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 property	amod
7	property	property	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 situated	obl
8	abroad	abroad	ADV	_	4 situated	advmod
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 country	punct
10	in	in	ADP	_	13 country	case
11	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 country	det
12	distant	distant	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 country	amod
13	country	country	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 situated	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	situate	gerund · passive		the tree		private property		abroad property	vn put-9.1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme upon property=Destination

Option 4

The location being unknown to scientists

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 location	det
2	location	location	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 unknown	nsubj
3	being	be	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	4 unknown	cop
4	unknown	unknown	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
5	to	to	ADP	_	6 scientists	case
6	scientists	scientist	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 unknown	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	gerund	the location					to scientists; unknown property	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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/253-plants-deeper-the-oldest-tallest-and-strangest-trees/e4/