Exam question 2 · Big snakes: pythons, boas and anacondas, and how big they…

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the method by which constrictors subdue their prey.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, established facts, constrictors · What happens: select, establish, concern, subdue · To what, where: response, method, prey

This is exam question 2 of lesson 321 «Big snakes: pythons, boas and anacondas, and how big they really get» 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	Select	select	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 response	det
3	response	response	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Select	obj
4	consistent	consistent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	1 Select	xcomp
5	with	with	ADP	_	8 facts	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 facts	det
7	established	establish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 facts	amod
8	facts	fact	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 consistent	obl
9	concerning	concern	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	8 facts	acl
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 method	det
11	method	method	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 concerning	obj
12	by	by	ADP	_	13 which	case
13	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	15 subdue	obl
14	constrictors	constrictor	NOUN	Number=Plur	15 subdue	nsubj
15	subdue	subdue	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	11 method	acl:relcl
16	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	17 prey	nmod:poss
17	prey	prey	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 subdue	obj
18	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Select	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	select	imperative	you not said here	the response	consistent property	vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme
2	establish	participle				vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot
3	concern	gerund	the established facts not said here	the method		vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus method=Experiencer
4	subdue	present	constrictors	constrictors's prey	by the method	vn subjugate-42.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent prey=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

The coils crush every bone of the prey at the first contraction, death following from the fractures alone

The tree, 18 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 coils	det
2	coils	coil	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 crush	nsubj
3	crush	crush	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	every	every	DET	PronType=Tot	5 bone	det
5	bone	bone	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 crush	obj
6	of	of	ADP	_	8 prey	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 prey	det
8	prey	prey	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 bone	nmod
9	at	at	ADP	_	12 contraction	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 contraction	det
11	first	first	ADJ	Degree=Pos NumForm=Word NumType=Ord	12 contraction	amod
12	contraction	contraction	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 crush	obl
13	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 death	punct
14	death	death	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 contraction	conj
15	following	follow	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	3 crush	advcl
16	from	from	ADP	_	18 fractures	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 fractures	det
18	fractures	fracture	NOUN	Number=Plur	15 following	obl
19	alone	alone	ADV	_	15 following	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	crush	present	the coils	every bone of the prey		the first contraction and death			vn carve-21.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bone=Patient
2	follow	gerund	the coils not said here			the fractures		alone property	vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent from fracture=Trajectory

Option 2

The coils are employed solely for the transport of prey

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 coils	det
2	coils	coil	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 employed	nsubj:pass
3	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 employed	aux:pass
4	employed	employ	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	solely	solely	ADV	_	4 employed	advmod
6	for	for	ADP	_	8 transport	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 transport	det
8	transport	transport	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 employed	obl
9	of	of	ADP	_	10 prey	case
10	prey	prey	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 transport	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	employ	present · passive		the coils				for the transport of prey; solely property	vn use-105.1 «NP V NP PP.predicate»: subject=Theme for transport=Eventuality

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

The coils tighten upon each exhalation and principally arrest the circulation of the blood

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 coils	det
2	coils	coil	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 tighten	nsubj
3	tighten	tighten	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	upon	upon	ADP	_	6 exhalation	case
5	each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	6 exhalation	det
6	exhalation	exhalation	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 tighten	obl
7	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 arrest	cc
8	principally	principally	ADV	_	9 arrest	advmod
9	arrest	arrest	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 tighten	conj
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 circulation	det
11	circulation	circulation	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 arrest	obj
12	of	of	ADP	_	14 blood	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 blood	det
14	blood	blood	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 circulation	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	tighten	present	the coils		upon each exhalation	vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient
2	arrest	present	the coils not said here	the circulation of the blood	principally property	vn prosecute-33.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent circulation=Patient
3	circulate			the blood		nom circulation «communication transitive»: of=patient

Option 4

The coils deliver venom through the scales of the snake

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 coils	det
2	coils	coil	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 deliver	nsubj
3	deliver	deliver	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	venom	venom	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 deliver	obj
5	through	through	ADP	_	7 scales	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 scales	det
7	scales	scale	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 deliver	obl
8	of	of	ADP	_	10 snake	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 snake	det
10	snake	snake	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 scales	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	deliver	present	the coils	venom		the scales of the snake			vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent venom=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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