Exam question 3 · Where eggs come from: hens, shell colours, sizes and what…

Ascertain the reason for which an aged egg floats when placed in water.

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 1 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, aged egg · What happens: ascertain, float, place · To what, where: reason, water

This is exam question 3 of lesson 342 «Where eggs come from: hens, shell colours, sizes and what is inside» 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	9 floats	obl
6	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 egg	det
7	aged	aged	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 egg	amod
8	egg	egg	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 floats	nsubj
9	floats	float	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 reason	acl
10	when	when	ADV	PronType=Int	11 placed	advmod
11	placed	place	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	9 floats	advcl
12	in	in	ADP	_	13 water	case
13	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 placed	obl
14	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the reason			vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic
2	float	present	a aged egg			for the reason	vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme
3	place	participle	a aged egg not said here		water		vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent in water=Destination

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 · ✓ the right answer

Water has escaped through the pores of the shell and the air space at the blunt end has enlarged

The tree, 19 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 escaped	nsubj:pass
2	has	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 escaped	aux
3	escaped	escape	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	through	through	ADP	_	6 pores	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 pores	det
6	pores	pore	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 escaped	obl
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 shell	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 shell	det
9	shell	shell	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 pores	nmod
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 space	cc
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 space	det
12	air	air	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 space	compound
13	space	space	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 shell	conj
14	at	at	ADP	_	17 end	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 end	det
16	blunt	blunt	ADJ	Degree=Pos	17 end	amod
17	end	end	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 enlarged	obl
18	has	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	19 enlarged	aux
19	enlarged	enlarge	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	3 escaped	parataxis

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	escape	present · perfect · passive		Water		the pores of the shell and the air space			vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Initial_Location
2	enlarge	present · perfect					at the blunt end		vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient

Option 2

The white has hardened into a buoyant solid

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 white	det
2	white	white	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 hardened	nsubj
3	has	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 hardened	aux
4	hardened	harden	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	root	root
5	into	into	ADP	_	8 solid	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 solid	det
7	buoyant	buoyant	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 solid	amod
8	solid	solid	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 hardened	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	harden	present · perfect	the white			a buoyant solid			vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice

The shell has absorbed water and become lighter

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 shell	det
2	shell	shell	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 absorbed	nsubj:pass
3	has	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 absorbed	aux
4	absorbed	absorb	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 absorbed	obj
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	7 become	cc
7	become	become	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 absorbed	conj
8	lighter	light	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	7 become	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	absorb	present · perfect · passive		the shell					tree rules
2	become	present						light property	vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient

Option 4

The yolk has been converted into gas

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 yolk	det
2	yolk	yolk	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 converted	nsubj:pass
3	has	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 converted	aux
4	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	5 converted	aux:pass
5	converted	convert	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	into	into	ADP	_	7 gas	case
7	gas	gas	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 converted	obl

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

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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