Exam question 2 · Parrots of the world: macaws, cockatoos, African greys, lo…

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the arrangement of the toes of a parrot?

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris, arrange · To what, where: arrangement, toes

This is exam question 2 of lesson 303 «Parrots of the world: macaws, cockatoos, African greys, lorikeets and the cheeky kea» 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 arrangement	det
10	arrangement	arrangement	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 toes	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 toes	det
13	toes	toe	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 arrangement	nmod
14	of	of	ADP	_	16 parrot	case
15	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	16 parrot	det
16	parrot	parrot	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 toes	nmod
17	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund			vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present	the arrangement of the toes of a parrot	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	arrange		the toes of a parrot		nom arrangement «cognition 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

The toes are fused into a single grasping claw

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 toes	det
2	toes	toe	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 fused	nsubj:pass
3	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 fused	aux:pass
4	fused	fuse	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	into	into	ADP	_	9 claw	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 claw	det
7	single	single	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 claw	amod
8	grasping	grasping	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 claw	compound
9	claw	claw	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 fused	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	fuse	present · passive		the toes				into a single grasping claw	vn mix-22.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: subject=Patient into claw=Co-Patient

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice

Three toes are directed forward and one backward upon each foot

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Three	three	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	2 toes	nummod
2	toes	toe	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 directed	nsubj:pass
3	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 directed	aux:pass
4	directed	direct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	forward	forward	ADV	_	4 directed	advmod
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	7 one	cc
7	one	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	4 directed	conj
8	backward	backward	ADV	_	4 directed	advmod
9	upon	upon	ADP	_	11 foot	case
10	each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	11 foot	det
11	foot	foot	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 directed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	direct	present · passive		Three toes				upon each foot; backward, forward property	vn supervision-95.2.2-1 «NP V NP.theme PP.predicate»: subject=Theme upon foot=Eventuality

Option 3

All toes are directed forward upon each foot

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	All	all	DET	PronType=Tot	2 toes	det
2	toes	toe	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 directed	nsubj:pass
3	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 directed	aux:pass
4	directed	direct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	forward	forward	ADV	_	4 directed	advmod
6	upon	upon	ADP	_	8 foot	case
7	each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	8 foot	det
8	foot	foot	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 directed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	direct	present · passive		all toes				upon each foot; forward property	vn supervision-95.2.2-1 «NP V NP.theme PP.predicate»: subject=Theme upon foot=Eventuality

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

Two toes are directed forward and two backward upon each foot

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Two	two	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	2 toes	nummod
2	toes	toe	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 directed	nsubj:pass
3	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 directed	aux:pass
4	directed	direct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	forward	forward	ADV	_	4 directed	advmod
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	7 two	cc
7	two	two	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	4 directed	conj
8	backward	backward	ADV	_	4 directed	advmod
9	upon	upon	ADP	_	11 foot	case
10	each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	11 foot	det
11	foot	foot	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 directed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	direct	present · passive		Two toes				upon each foot; backward, forward property	vn supervision-95.2.2-1 «NP V NP.theme PP.predicate»: subject=Theme upon foot=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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