Exam question 3 · The asteroid: the day the dinosaurs died and who survived

Ascertain the principal mechanism by which the darkening of the sky brought about the collapse of food chains.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, darkening, food chains · What happens: ascertain, bring, darken, collapse · To what, where: principal mechanism, sky

This is exam question 3 of lesson 271 «The asteroid: the day the dinosaurs died and who survived» 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 mechanism	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 mechanism	amod
4	mechanism	mechanism	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
5	by	by	ADP	_	6 which	case
6	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	12 brought	obl
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 darkening	det
8	darkening	darkening	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 brought	nsubj
9	of	of	ADP	_	11 sky	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 sky	det
11	sky	sky	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 darkening	nmod
12	brought	bring	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 mechanism	acl:relcl
13	about	about	ADP	_	15 collapse	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 collapse	det
15	collapse	collapse	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 brought	obl
16	of	of	ADP	_	18 chains	case
17	food	food	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 chains	compound
18	chains	chain	NOUN	Number=Plur	15 collapse	nmod
19	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the principal mechanism		vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mechanism=Topic
2	bring	past	the darkening of the sky		by the principal mechanism; about the collapse of food chains	vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent
3	darken			the sky		nom darkening «act transitive»: of=patient
4	collapse		food chains			nom collapse «state intransitive»: of=agent

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

The cessation of plant growth for want of sunlight, followed by the starvation of herbivores and then carnivores

The tree, 18 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 cessation	det
2	cessation	cessation	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 growth	case
4	plant	plant	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 growth	compound
5	growth	growth	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 cessation	nmod
6	for	for	ADP	_	7 want	case
7	want	want	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 growth	nmod
8	of	of	ADP	_	9 sunlight	case
9	sunlight	sunlight	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 want	nmod
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 followed	punct
11	followed	follow	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 cessation	acl
12	by	by	ADP	_	14 starvation	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 starvation	det
14	starvation	starvation	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 followed	obl
15	of	of	ADP	_	16 herbivores	case
16	herbivores	herbivore	NOUN	Number=Plur	14 starvation	nmod
17	and	and	CCONJ	_	19 carnivores	cc
18	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	19 carnivores	advmod
19	carnivores	carnivore	NOUN	Number=Plur	16 herbivores	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	participle		the cessation of plant growth for want of sunlight not said here	by the starvation of herbivores and carnivores	vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme by starvation=Location
2	cease			plant growth for want of sunlight		nom cessation «event transitive»: of=patient
3	want			sunlight		nom want «state transitive»: of=patient
4	starve		herbivores and carnivores			nom starvation «state intransitive»: of=agent

Option 2

The flight of all animals to other continents where the sky had remained clear and plants still grew

The tree, 18 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 flight	det
2	flight	flight	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 grew	nsubj
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 animals	case
4	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	5 animals	det
5	animals	animal	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 flight	nmod
6	to	to	ADP	_	8 continents	case
7	other	other	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 continents	amod
8	continents	continent	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 animals	nmod
9	where	where	ADV	PronType=Rel	13 remained	advmod
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 sky	det
11	sky	sky	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 remained	nsubj:pass
12	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	13 remained	aux
13	remained	remain	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 continents	acl:relcl
14	clear	clear	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 remained	xcomp
15	and	and	CCONJ	_	16 plants	cc
16	plants	plant	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 animals	conj
17	still	still	ADV	_	18 grew	advmod
18	grew	grow	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	remain	past · perfect · passive		the sky				clear property	vn seem-109-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Attribute
2	grow	past	the flight of all animals to other continents and plants				still		vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 3

The direct poisoning of all animals by the darkness itself, which was understood to be toxic to reptiles

The tree, 18 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 poisoning	det
2	direct	direct	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 poisoning	amod
3	poisoning	poisoning	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 animals	case
5	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	6 animals	det
6	animals	animal	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 poisoning	nmod
7	by	by	ADP	_	9 darkness	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 darkness	det
9	darkness	darkness	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 poisoning	nmod
10	itself	itself	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Emp Reflex=Yes	9 darkness	nmod:unmarked
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 understood	punct
12	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	14 understood	nsubj:pass
13	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	14 understood	aux:pass
14	understood	understand	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 poisoning	acl
15	to	to	PART	_	17 toxic	mark
16	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	17 toxic	cop
17	toxic	toxic	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 understood	xcomp
18	to	to	ADP	_	19 reptiles	case
19	reptiles	reptile	NOUN	Number=Plur	17 toxic	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	understand	past · passive		the direct poisoning of all animals by the darkness darkness		vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: subject=Stimulus
2	is	to-infinitive			to reptiles; toxic property	tree rules
3	poison		the darkness darkness	all animals		nom poisoning «state transitive»: of=patient by=agent

Option 4

The freezing solid of all the oceans within a single day, which prevented the animals from drinking

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	3 solid	det
2	freezing	freezing	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 solid	compound
3	solid	solid	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 prevented	nsubj
4	of	of	ADP	_	7 oceans	case
5	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	7 oceans	det:predet
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 oceans	det
7	oceans	ocean	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 solid	nmod
8	within	within	ADP	_	11 day	case
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 day	det
10	single	single	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 day	amod
11	day	day	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 oceans	nmod
12	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 prevented	punct
13	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	14 prevented	nsubj
14	prevented	prevent	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 animals	det
16	animals	animal	NOUN	Number=Plur	14 prevented	obj
17	from	from	ADP	_	18 drinking	case
18	drinking	drinking	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 prevented	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	prevent	past	the freezing solid of all oceans within a single day		the animals	drinking			vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Causer animal=Beneficiary from drinking=Eventuality

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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