Exam question 3 · Not dinosaurs at all: pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, mosasaurs a…

Ascertain the anatomical criterion by which dinosaurs are distinguished from other ancient reptiles.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, anatomical criterion · What happens: ascertain, distinguish · To what, where: anatomical criterion, dinosaurs

This is exam question 3 of lesson 270 «Not dinosaurs at all: pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, mosasaurs and Mary Anning» 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	4 criterion	det
3	anatomical	anatomical	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 criterion	amod
4	criterion	criterion	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
5	by	by	ADP	_	6 which	case
6	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	9 distinguished	obl
7	dinosaurs	dinosaur	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 distinguished	nsubj:pass
8	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	9 distinguished	aux:pass
9	distinguished	distinguish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 criterion	acl:relcl
10	from	from	ADP	_	13 reptiles	case
11	other	other	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 reptiles	amod
12	ancient	ancient	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 reptiles	amod
13	reptiles	reptile	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 distinguished	obl
14	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the anatomical criterion					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent criterion=Topic
2	distinguish	present · passive	the anatomical criterion	dinosaurs				from other ancient reptiles	vn distinguish-23.5-1 «NP V NP.theme PP.co-theme»: agent=Agent subject=Theme from reptile=Co-Theme

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

Limbs held erect beneath the body, attested by an open hip socket

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Limbs	limb	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 held	nsubj
2	held	hold	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	erect	erect	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 held	xcomp
4	beneath	beneath	ADP	_	6 body	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 body	det
6	body	body	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 held	obl
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 attested	punct
8	attested	attest	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 held	advcl
9	by	by	ADP	_	13 socket	case
10	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 socket	det
11	open	open	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 socket	amod
12	hip	hip	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 socket	compound
13	socket	socket	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 attested	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	hold	past	Limbs			the body		erect property	vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme beneath body=Location
2	attest	participle	Limbs not said here					by a open hip socket	tree rules

Option 2

The possession of scales covering the whole of the body

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 possession	det
2	possession	possession	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 scales	case
4	scales	scale	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 possession	nmod
5	covering	cover	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	2 possession	acl
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 whole	det
7	whole	whole	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 covering	obj
8	of	of	ADP	_	10 body	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 body	det
10	body	body	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 whole	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	cover	gerund	the possession of scales not said here	the whole					vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme whole=Destination
2	possess			scales					nom possession «act transitive»: of=patient

Option 3

A habitat confined to water, with limbs modified into flippers

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 habitat	det
2	habitat	habitat	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	confined	confine	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 habitat	acl
4	to	to	ADP	_	5 water	case
5	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 confined	obl
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 limbs	punct
7	with	with	ADP	_	8 limbs	case
8	limbs	limb	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 confined	obl
9	modified	modify	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 limbs	acl
10	into	into	ADP	_	11 flippers	case
11	flippers	flipper	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 modified	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	confine	participle		a habitat not said here		water		with limbs	vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent to water=Destination
2	modify	participle		limbs not said here		flippers			vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient

Option 4

Great size exceeding that of any other reptile, living or extinct

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Great	great	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 size	amod
2	size	size	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	exceeding	exceed	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	2 size	acl
4	that	that	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	3 exceeding	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	8 reptile	case
6	any	any	DET	PronType=Ind	8 reptile	det
7	other	other	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 reptile	amod
8	reptile	reptile	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 that	nmod
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 living	punct
10	living	live	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	3 exceeding	conj
11	or	or	CCONJ	_	12 extinct	cc
12	extinct	extinct	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 living	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	exceed	gerund	Great size not said here	Great size					vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot that=Theme
2	live	gerund	Great size not said here						vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

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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