Exam question 2 · Rice, maize and potatoes: the plants that feed the world

Ascertain the reason for which the rows of kernels upon a cob of maize are ordinarily even in number.

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, rows · What happens: ascertain, be · To what, where: reason, number

This is exam question 2 of lesson 345 «Rice, maize and potatoes: the plants that feed the world» 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	DET	PronType=Int	7 rows	det
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 rows	det
7	rows	row	NOUN	Number=Plur	19 number	nsubj
8	of	of	ADP	_	9 kernels	case
9	kernels	kernel	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 rows	nmod
10	upon	upon	ADP	_	12 cob	case
11	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 cob	det
12	cob	cob	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 kernels	nmod
13	of	of	ADP	_	14 maize	case
14	maize	maize	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 cob	nmod
15	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	19 number	cop
16	ordinarily	ordinarily	ADV	_	19 number	advmod
17	even	even	ADV	_	19 number	advmod
18	in	in	ADP	_	19 number	case
19	number	number	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 reason	acl:relcl
20	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the reason					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic
2	is	present	which rows of kernels upon a cob of maize			number		ordinarily property	tree rules

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

Odd rows are removed by the farmer

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Odd	odd	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 rows	amod
2	rows	row	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 removed	nsubj:pass
3	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 removed	aux:pass
4	removed	remove	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	by	by	ADP	_	7 farmer	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 farmer	det
7	farmer	farmer	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 removed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	remove	present · passive	the farmer	Odd rows					vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme

Option 2

Odd rows are shed in the wind

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Odd	odd	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 rows	amod
2	rows	row	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 shed	nsubj:pass
3	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 shed	aux:pass
4	shed	shed	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	in	in	ADP	_	7 wind	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 wind	det
7	wind	wind	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 shed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	shed	present · passive		Odd rows		the wind			vn substance_emission-43.4-1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Source

Option 3

The number is determined by the colour of the cob

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 number	det
2	number	number	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 determined	nsubj
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 determined	aux:pass
4	determined	determine	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	by	by	ADP	_	7 colour	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 colour	det
7	colour	colour	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 determined	obl
8	of	of	ADP	_	10 cob	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 cob	det
10	cob	cob	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 colour	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	determine	present · passive	the colour of the cob	the number					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Topic

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

The kernels develop in pairs from the outset

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 kernels	det
2	kernels	kernel	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 develop	nsubj
3	develop	develop	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	in	in	ADP	_	5 pairs	case
5	pairs	pair	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 develop	obl
6	from	from	ADP	_	8 outset	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 outset	det
8	outset	outset	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 develop	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	develop	present	the kernels			pairs		from the outset	vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in pair=Location

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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