Exam question 4 · Tortoises, lizards and geckos as pets: heat, light and was…

Ascertain the reason for which hands ought to be washed after the handling of a reptile.

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, reason · What happens: ascertain, hand, wash, handle · To what, where: reason, reptile

This is exam question 4 of lesson 329 «Tortoises, lizards and geckos as pets: heat, light and washing hands» 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	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 reason	det
3	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
4	for	for	ADP	_	5 which	case
5	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	6 hands	nsubj
6	hands	hand	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 reason	acl:relcl
7	ought	ought	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	6 hands	ccomp
8	to	to	PART	_	10 washed	mark
9	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	10 washed	aux:pass
10	washed	wash	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 hands	advcl
11	after	after	ADP	_	13 handling	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 handling	det
13	handling	handling	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 washed	obl
14	of	of	ADP	_	16 reptile	case
15	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	16 reptile	det
16	reptile	reptile	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 handling	nmod
17	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	when	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the reason		vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic
2	hand	present	the reason			vn send-11.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
3	wash	to-infinitive · passive	the reason not said here		after the handling of a reptile	vn floss-41.2.1 «NP V»
4	handle			a reptile		nom handling «act 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

Reptiles leave a dye upon the hands

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Reptiles	reptile	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 leave	nsubj
2	leave	leave	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 dye	det
4	dye	dye	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 leave	obj
5	upon	upon	ADP	_	7 hands	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 hands	det
7	hands	hand	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 leave	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	leave	present	Reptiles	a dye		the hands			vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent dye=Theme upon hand=Location

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice

Reptiles transmit the common cold to human beings

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Reptiles	reptile	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 transmit	nsubj
2	transmit	transmit	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 cold	det
4	common	common	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 cold	amod
5	cold	cold	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 transmit	obj
6	to	to	ADP	_	8 beings	case
7	human	human	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 beings	amod
8	beings	being	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 transmit	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	transmit	present	Reptiles	the common cold		human beings			vn send-11.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent cold=Theme to being=Destination

Option 3

Reptiles secrete a poison through their scales which is absorbed through the skin

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Reptiles	reptile	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 secrete	nsubj
2	secrete	secrete	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 poison	det
4	poison	poison	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 secrete	obj
5	through	through	ADP	_	7 scales	case
6	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	7 scales	nmod:poss
7	scales	scale	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 secrete	obl
8	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	10 absorbed	nsubj:pass
9	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 absorbed	aux:pass
10	absorbed	absorb	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	7 scales	acl:relcl
11	through	through	ADP	_	13 skin	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 skin	det
13	skin	skin	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 absorbed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	secrete	present	Reptiles	a poison		Reptiles's scales			tree rules
2	absorb	present · passive		Reptiles's scales		the skin			vn absorb-39.8 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

Reptiles frequently carry salmonella bacteria without themselves being ill

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Reptiles	reptile	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 carry	nsubj
2	frequently	frequently	ADV	_	3 carry	advmod
3	carry	carry	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	9 ill	parataxis
4	salmonella	salmonella	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 bacteria	compound
5	bacteria	bacterium	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 carry	obj
6	without	without	ADP	_	7 themselves	case
7	themselves	themselves	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs Reflex=Yes	3 carry	obl
8	being	be	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	9 ill	cop
9	ill	ill	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	carry	present	Reptiles	salmonella bacteria				without Reptiles = reptile; frequently property	vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bacterium=Theme
2	is	gerund						ill property	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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