Exam question 1 · Deer: antlers that fall off and grow again; red deer, roe…

Identify the principal distinction between the antlers of deer and the horns of cattle.

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you · What happens: identify · To what, where: principal distinction

This is exam question 1 of lesson 318 «Deer: antlers that fall off and grow again; red deer, roe deer, moose, muntjac and water deer» 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	Identify	identify	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 distinction	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 distinction	amod
4	distinction	distinction	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
5	between	between	ADP	_	7 antlers	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 antlers	det
7	antlers	antler	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 distinction	nmod
8	of	of	ADP	_	9 deer	case
9	deer	deer	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 antlers	nmod
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	12 horns	cc
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 horns	det
12	horns	horn	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 deer	conj
13	of	of	ADP	_	14 cattle	case
14	cattle	cattle	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 horns	nmod
15	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	the principal distinction				between the antlers of deer and the horns of cattle	vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent distinction=Theme

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

No distinction exists, the terms being synonymous

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	No	no	DET	PronType=Neg	2 distinction	det
2	distinction	distinction	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 exists	nsubj
3	exists	exist	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	,	,	PUNCT	_	6 terms	punct
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 terms	det
6	terms	term	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 synonymous	nsubj
7	being	be	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	8 synonymous	cop
8	synonymous	synonymous	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 exists	ccomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	exist	present	no distinction						vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	is	gerund	the terms					synonymous property	tree rules

Option 2

Antlers consist of keratin alone, whereas horns consist of wood

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Antlers	antler	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 consist	nsubj
2	consist	consist	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 keratin	case
4	keratin	keratin	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 consist	obl
5	alone	alone	ADV	_	2 consist	advmod
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 consist	punct
7	whereas	whereas	PRON	PronType=Rel	9 consist	obj
8	horns	horn	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 consist	nsubj
9	consist	consist	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 consist	conj
10	of	of	ADP	_	11 wood	case
11	wood	wood	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 consist	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	consist	present	Antlers					of keratin; alone property	tree rules
2	consist	present	horns	whereas				of wood	tree rules

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

Antlers consist of bone and are shed annually, whereas horns comprise a bony core sheathed in keratin and are retained for life

The tree, 22 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Antlers	antler	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 consist	nsubj
2	consist	consist	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 bone	case
4	bone	bone	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 consist	obl
5	and	and	CCONJ	_	7 shed	cc
6	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 shed	aux:pass
7	shed	shed	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 consist	conj
8	annually	annually	ADV	_	7 shed	advmod
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	12 comprise	punct
10	whereas	whereas	DET	PronType=Int	11 horns	det
11	horns	horn	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 comprise	nsubj
12	comprise	comprise	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 consist	conj
13	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	15 core	det
14	bony	bony	ADJ	Degree=Pos	15 core	amod
15	core	core	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 comprise	obj
16	sheathed	sheath	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	15 core	acl
17	in	in	ADP	_	18 keratin	case
18	keratin	keratin	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 sheathed	obl
19	and	and	CCONJ	_	21 retained	cc
20	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	21 retained	aux:pass
21	retained	retain	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 consist	conj
22	for	for	ADP	_	23 life	case
23	life	life	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 retained	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	consist	present	Antlers			of bone	tree rules
2	shed	present · passive	Antlers not said here			annually property	vn substance_emission-43.4-1 «NP V»
3	comprise	present	whereas horns	a bony core			vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme core=Pivot
4	sheath	participle		a bony core not said here	keratin		tree rules
5	retain	present · passive	Antlers not said here			for life	tree rules

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice

Antlers are retained throughout the life of the animal, whereas horns are shed annually and regrown each spring in a larger form

The tree, 22 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Antlers	antler	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 retained	nsubj
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 retained	aux:pass
3	retained	retain	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	throughout	throughout	ADP	_	6 life	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 life	det
6	life	life	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 retained	obl
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 animal	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 animal	det
9	animal	animal	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 life	nmod
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 shed	punct
11	whereas	whereas	PRON	PronType=Rel	14 shed	nsubj:pass
12	horns	horn	NOUN	Number=Plur	14 shed	nsubj:pass
13	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	14 shed	aux:pass
14	shed	shed	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 retained	parataxis
15	annually	annually	ADV	_	14 shed	advmod
16	and	and	CCONJ	_	17 regrown	cc
17	regrown	regrow	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	14 shed	conj
18	each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	19 spring	det
19	spring	spring	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 regrown	obj
20	in	in	ADP	_	23 form	case
21	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	23 form	det
22	larger	large	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	23 form	amod
23	form	form	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 regrown	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	retain	present · passive	Antlers		throughout the life of the animal		tree rules
2	shed	present · passive	whereas			annually property	vn substance_emission-43.4-1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Source
3	regrow	participle		a larger form	spring		tree rules

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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