Exam question 3 · Frogs and toads near home: spawn, croaking choruses, toad…

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the unken reflex of the fire-bellied toad?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris, belly · To what, where: unken reflex

This is exam question 3 of lesson 309 «Frogs and toads near home: spawn, croaking choruses, toad crossings and the fire-bellied toad» 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	11 reflex	det
10	unken	unken	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 reflex	amod
11	reflex	reflex	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
12	of	of	ADP	_	17 toad	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 toad	det
14	fire	fire	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 bellied	compound
15	-	-	PUNCT	_	14 fire	punct
16	bellied	belly	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	17 toad	amod
17	toad	toad	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 reflex	nmod
18	?	?	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 unken reflex of the bellied toad	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	belly	participle			tree rules

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 inflation of the vocal sac to produce a loud call audible across the marsh

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 inflation	det
2	inflation	inflation	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	6 sac	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 sac	det
5	vocal	vocal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 sac	amod
6	sac	sac	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 inflation	nmod
7	to	to	PART	_	8 produce	mark
8	produce	produce	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 inflation	acl
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 audible	det
10	loud	loud	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 audible	amod
11	call	call	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 audible	compound
12	audible	audible	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 produce	obj
13	across	across	ADP	_	15 marsh	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 marsh	det
15	marsh	marsh	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 produce	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	produce	to-infinitive		a loud call audible		the marsh			vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent audible=Result
2	inflate			the vocal sac					nom inflation «process transitive»: of=patient

Option 2

The burial of the toad within mud during the winter

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 burial	det
2	burial	burial	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 toad	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 toad	det
5	toad	toad	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 burial	nmod
6	within	within	ADP	_	7 mud	case
7	mud	mud	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 toad	nmod
8	during	during	ADP	_	10 winter	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 winter	det
10	winter	winter	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 burial	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	bury			the toad within mud			during the winter		nom burial «event transitive»: of=patient during=obl

Option 3

A sudden leap into deep water to escape predators

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 leap	det
2	sudden	sudden	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 leap	amod
3	leap	leap	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	into	into	ADP	_	6 water	case
5	deep	deep	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 water	amod
6	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 leap	nmod
7	to	to	PART	_	8 escape	mark
8	escape	escape	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	3 leap	acl
9	predators	predator	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 escape	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	escape	to-infinitive		predators					vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme predator=Initial_Location

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

An arching of the back that displays a brightly coloured belly as a warning

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	An	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 arching	det
2	arching	arching	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 back	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 back	det
5	back	back	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 arching	nmod
6	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	7 displays	nsubj
7	displays	display	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 arching	acl:relcl
8	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 belly	det
9	brightly	brightly	ADV	_	10 coloured	advmod
10	coloured	coloured	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 belly	amod
11	belly	belly	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 displays	obj
12	as	as	ADP	_	14 warning	case
13	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 warning	det
14	warning	warning	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 displays	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	display	present	a arching of the back	a coloured belly				as a warning	vn reflexive_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent belly=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.

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