Exam question 4 · Animal myths put right: elephants and mice, lemmings, ostr…

Ascertain the principal function of colour change in the chameleon.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you · What happens: ascertain · To what, where: principal function

This is exam question 4 of lesson 295 «Animal myths put right: elephants and mice, lemmings, ostriches and goldfish» 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 function	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 function	amod
4	function	function	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	7 change	case
6	colour	colour	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 change	compound
7	change	change	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 function	nmod
8	in	in	ADP	_	10 chameleon	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 chameleon	det
10	chameleon	chameleon	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 change	nmod
11	.	.	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 principal function of colour change in the chameleon					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent function=Topic

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 concealment of the animal from its own reflection

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 concealment	det
2	concealment	concealment	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 animal	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 animal	det
5	animal	animal	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 concealment	nmod
6	from	from	ADP	_	9 reflection	case
7	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	9 reflection	nmod:poss
8	own	own	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 reflection	amod
9	reflection	reflection	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 animal	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	conceal			the animal from animal's own reflection					nom concealment «state transitive»: of=patient

Option 2

The attraction of insects by means of bright patterns

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 attraction	det
2	attraction	attraction	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 means	nsubj
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 insects	case
4	insects	insect	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 attraction	nmod
5	by	by	ADP	_	6 means	case
6	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 patterns	case
8	bright	bright	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 patterns	amod
9	patterns	pattern	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 means	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	mean	present	the attraction of insects					of bright patterns	vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent
2	attract			insects					nom attraction «phenomenon transitive»: of=patient

Option 3

The precise reproduction of any background whatsoever

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 reproduction	det
2	precise	precise	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 reproduction	amod
3	reproduction	reproduction	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 background	case
5	any	any	DET	PronType=Ind	6 background	det
6	background	background	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 reproduction	nmod
7	whatsoever	whatsoever	ADV	_	6 background	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	reproduce		any background						nom reproduction «process intransitive»: of=agent

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

The communication of mood and signals, and the regulation of temperature

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 communication	det
2	communication	communication	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 mood	case
4	mood	mood	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 communication	nmod
5	and	and	CCONJ	_	6 signals	cc
6	signals	signal	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 mood	conj
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 regulation	punct
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 regulation	cc
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 regulation	det
10	regulation	regulation	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 communication	conj
11	of	of	ADP	_	12 temperature	case
12	temperature	temperature	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 regulation	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	communicate		mood and signals						nom communication «communication intransitive»: of=agent
2	regulate			temperature					nom regulation «communication transitive»: of=patient

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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