Exam question 3 · Evolution myths put right: monkeys, the strongest and miss…

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the meaning of the word «theory» in the sciences?

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 3 · right ✓ · What happens: follow, characteris, mean · To what, where: meaning, sciences, word

This is exam question 3 of lesson 280 «Evolution myths put right: monkeys, the strongest and missing links» 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	Which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 characterises	nsubj
2	of	of	ADP	_	5 statements	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 statements	det
4	following	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 statements	amod
5	statements	statement	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 characterises	obl
6	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	7 accurately	advmod
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	_	8 characterises	advmod
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 meaning	det
10	meaning	meaning	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 word	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 word	det
13	word	word	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 meaning	nmod
14	«	«	PUNCT	_	15 theory	punct
15	theory	theory	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 word	appos
16	»	»	PUNCT	_	15 theory	punct
17	in	in	ADP	_	19 sciences	case
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 sciences	det
19	sciences	science	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 characterises	obl
20	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present	the meaning of the word	the sciences	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	mean		the word			nom meaning «communication 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 conjecture unsupported by any evidence, awaiting confirmation by experiment

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 conjecture	det
2	conjecture	conjecture	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	unsupported	unsupported	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 conjecture	amod
4	by	by	ADP	_	6 evidence	case
5	any	any	DET	PronType=Ind	6 evidence	det
6	evidence	evidence	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 unsupported	obl
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 awaiting	punct
8	awaiting	await	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	2 conjecture	acl
9	confirmation	confirmation	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 awaiting	obj
10	by	by	ADP	_	11 experiment	case
11	experiment	experiment	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 awaiting	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	await	gerund	a conjecture not said here	confirmation				by experiment	tree rules

Option 2

An opinion held by a single scientist

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	An	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 opinion	det
2	opinion	opinion	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	held	hold	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 opinion	acl
4	by	by	ADP	_	7 scientist	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 scientist	det
6	single	single	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 scientist	amod
7	scientist	scientist	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 held	obl:agent

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	hold	participle		a opinion not said here					vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

A comprehensive explanation supported by a substantial body of evidence

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 explanation	det
2	comprehensive	comprehensive	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 explanation	amod
3	explanation	explanation	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	supported	support	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 explanation	acl
5	by	by	ADP	_	8 body	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 body	det
7	substantial	substantial	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 body	amod
8	body	body	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 supported	obl
9	of	of	ADP	_	10 evidence	case
10	evidence	evidence	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 body	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	support	participle		a comprehensive explanation not said here				by a substantial body of evidence	vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer

Option 4

A rule enacted by the government

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 rule	det
2	rule	rule	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	enacted	enact	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 rule	acl
4	by	by	ADP	_	6 government	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 government	det
6	government	government	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 enacted	obl:agent

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	enact	participle		a rule not said here					vn performance-26.7 «NP V»: agent=Agent

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/280-evolution-myths-put-right-monkeys-the-strongest-and-missing-links/e3/