Exam question 2 · Frogs, toads, newts and salamanders

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the fate of the tadpole's tail during metamorphosis?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris, fate · To what, where: fate, tail

This is exam question 2 of lesson 32 «Frogs, toads, newts and salamanders» 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 fate	det
10	fate	fate	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	15 tail	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 tadpole	det
13	tadpole	tadpole	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 tail	nmod:poss
14	's	's	PART	_	13 tadpole	case
15	tail	tail	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 fate	nmod
16	during	during	ADP	_	17 metamorphosis	case
17	metamorphosis	metamorphosis	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obl
18	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	when	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present	the fate of the tadpole's tail	during metamorphosis	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	fate		the tadpole's tail			nom fate «event 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 · ← Mova's choice

It is shed and abandoned upon the pond floor

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 shed	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 shed	aux:pass
3	shed	shed	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	and	and	CCONJ	_	5 abandoned	cc
5	abandoned	abandon	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 shed	conj
6	upon	upon	ADP	_	9 floor	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 floor	det
8	pond	pond	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 floor	compound
9	floor	floor	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 abandoned	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	shed	present · passive		It					vn substance_emission-43.4-1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Source
2	abandon	participle						upon the pond floor	vn leave-51.2 «NP V NP.initial_location»: agent=Theme

Option 2

It is converted into the hind limbs

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 converted	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 converted	aux:pass
3	converted	convert	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	into	into	ADP	_	7 limbs	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 limbs	det
6	hind	hind	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 limbs	amod
7	limbs	limb	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 converted	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	convert	present · passive		It				into the hind limbs result	vn turn-26.6.1-1 «NP V NP.patient PP.result»: subject=Patient into limb=Result

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

It is broken down and its material reused by the body

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 broken	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 broken	aux:pass
3	broken	break	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	down	down	ADP	_	3 broken	compound:prt
5	and	and	CCONJ	_	8 reused	cc
6	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	7 material	nmod:poss
7	material	material	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 reused	nsubj
8	reused	reuse	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 broken	conj
9	by	by	ADP	_	11 body	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 body	det
11	body	body	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 reused	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	break down	present · passive		It					vn break-45.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient
2	reuse	participle	its material					by the body	vn consume-66-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

Option 4

It persists into adulthood unchanged, as with the newt

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 persists	nsubj
2	persists	persist	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	into	into	ADP	_	4 adulthood	case
4	adulthood	adulthood	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 persists	obl
5	unchanged	unchanged	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 persists	xcomp
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 newt	punct
7	as	as	ADP	_	10 newt	case
8	with	with	ADP	_	10 newt	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 newt	det
10	newt	newt	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 persists	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	persist	present	It			adulthood		unchanged property	vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=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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