Exam question 3 · Megalodon and the giants of the sea, past and present

Ascertain the circumstances of the rediscovery of the coelacanth.

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · Who acts: you · What happens: ascertain, rediscover · To what, where: circumstances, coelacanth

This is exam question 3 of lesson 273 «Megalodon and the giants of the sea, past and present» 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 circumstances	det
3	circumstances	circumstance	NOUN	Number=Plur	1 Ascertain	obj
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 rediscovery	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 rediscovery	det
6	rediscovery	rediscovery	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 circumstances	nmod
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 coelacanth	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 coelacanth	det
9	coelacanth	coelacanth	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 rediscovery	nmod
10	.	.	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 circumstances of the rediscovery of the coelacanth					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent circumstance=Topic
2	rediscover			the coelacanth					nom rediscovery «act transitive»: of=patient

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 fossil was restored to life by scientists by means of preserved material

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 fossil	det
2	fossil	fossil	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 restored	nsubj:pass
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 restored	aux:pass
4	restored	restore	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	to	to	ADP	_	6 life	case
6	life	life	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 restored	obl
7	by	by	ADP	_	8 scientists	case
8	scientists	scientist	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 restored	obl
9	by	by	ADP	_	10 means	case
10	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 restored	parataxis
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 material	case
12	preserved	preserve	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	13 material	amod
13	material	material	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 means	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	other	roles by
1	restore	past · passive	scientists	a fossil	life		vn contribute-13.2 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent subject=Theme to life=Recipient
2	mean	present				of preserved material	vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent
3	preserve	participle					vn defend-72.3 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Agent

Option 2

The species was first described in an ancient legend

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 species	det
2	species	species	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 described	nsubj:pass
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 described	aux:pass
4	first	first	ADV	NumForm=Word NumType=Ord	5 described	advmod
5	described	describe	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	in	in	ADP	_	9 legend	case
7	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 legend	det
8	ancient	ancient	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 legend	amod
9	legend	legend	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 described	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	describe	past · passive		the species		a ancient legend		first property	vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: subject=Theme

Option 3

A frozen specimen was recovered from Siberian permafrost alongside the remains of the mammoth

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 specimen	det
2	frozen	frozen	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 specimen	amod
3	specimen	specimen	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 recovered	nsubj:pass
4	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 recovered	aux:pass
5	recovered	recover	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	from	from	ADP	_	8 permafrost	case
7	Siberian	siberian	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 permafrost	amod
8	permafrost	permafrost	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 recovered	obl
9	alongside	alongside	ADP	_	11 remains	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 remains	det
11	remains	remains	NOUN	Number=Ptan	5 recovered	obl
12	of	of	ADP	_	14 mammoth	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 mammoth	det
14	mammoth	mammoth	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 remains	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	recover	past · passive		a frozen specimen		Siberian permafrost		alongside the remains of the mammoth	vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: subject=Theme from permafrost=Source

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

A living specimen was taken off South Africa in 1938, the species having been presumed extinct

The tree, 16 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 specimen	det
2	living	living	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 specimen	amod
3	specimen	specimen	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 taken	nsubj:pass
4	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 taken	aux:pass
5	taken	take	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	off	off	ADP	_	8 Africa	case
7	South	South	PROPN	Number=Sing	8 Africa	compound
8	Africa	Africa	PROPN	Number=Sing	5 taken	obl
9	in	in	ADP	_	10 1938	case
10	1938	1938	NUM	NumForm=Digit NumType=Card	5 taken	obl
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	16 presumed	punct
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 species	det
13	species	species	NOUN	Number=Plur	16 presumed	nsubj:pass
14	having	have	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	16 presumed	aux
15	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	16 presumed	aux:pass
16	presumed	presume	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 taken	conj
17	extinct	extinct	ADJ	Degree=Pos	16 presumed	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	take off	past · passive		a living specimen		1938		off South Africa	tree rules
2	presume	gerund · perfect · passive		the species				extinct property	vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V NP»: subject=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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/273-megalodon-and-the-giants-of-the-sea/e3/