Exam question 2 · The Chinese zodiac: the twelve real animals behind the signs

Ascertain the principal reason for which the water buffalo was employed in the cultivation of flooded rice fields.

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · Who acts: you · What happens: ascertain, employ, flood, cultivate · To what, where: principal reason, water buffalo, cultivation, flooded rice fields

This is exam question 2 of lesson 382 «The Chinese zodiac: the twelve real animals behind the signs» 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	4 reason	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 reason	amod
4	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
5	for	for	ADP	_	6 which	case
6	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	11 employed	obl
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 buffalo	det
8	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 buffalo	compound
9	buffalo	buffalo	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 employed	nsubj:pass
10	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	11 employed	aux:pass
11	employed	employ	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 reason	acl:relcl
12	in	in	ADP	_	14 cultivation	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 cultivation	det
14	cultivation	cultivation	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 employed	obl
15	of	of	ADP	_	18 fields	case
16	flooded	flood	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	18 fields	amod
17	rice	rice	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 fields	compound
18	fields	field	NOUN	Number=Plur	14 cultivation	nmod
19	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the principal reason			vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic
2	employ	past · passive		the water buffalo	the cultivation of flooded rice fields	for the principal reason	vn use-105.1 «NP V NP PP.predicate»: subject=Theme for which=Eventuality
3	flood	participle					vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient
4	cultivate			flooded rice fields			nom cultivation «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

It perspires copiously and so remains cool in the sun

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 perspires	nsubj
2	perspires	perspire	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	copiously	copiously	ADV	_	2 perspires	advmod
4	and	and	CCONJ	_	6 remains	cc
5	so	so	ADV	_	6 remains	advmod
6	remains	remain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 perspires	conj
7	cool	cool	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 remains	xcomp
8	in	in	ADP	_	10 sun	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 sun	det
10	sun	sun	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 remains	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	perspire	present	It					copiously property	vn exhale-40.1.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	remain	present				the sun		cool property	vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in sun=Location

Option 2

It is capable of swimming beneath the water

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 capable	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 capable	cop
3	capable	capable	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	5 swimming	case
5	swimming	swimming	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 capable	obl
6	beneath	beneath	ADP	_	8 water	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 water	det
8	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 capable	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	present	It					of swimming; beneath the water; capable property	tree rules

Option 3

It is lighter than any horse

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 lighter	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 lighter	cop
3	lighter	light	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	root	root
4	than	than	ADP	_	6 horse	case
5	any	any	DET	PronType=Ind	6 horse	det
6	horse	horse	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 lighter	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	present	It					than any horse; light property	tree rules

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

Its broad hooves distribute its weight, preventing deep sinking in mud

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	3 hooves	nmod:poss
2	broad	broad	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 hooves	amod
3	hooves	hoove	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 distribute	nsubj
4	distribute	distribute	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
5	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	6 weight	nmod:poss
6	weight	weight	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 distribute	obj
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 preventing	punct
8	preventing	prevent	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	4 distribute	advcl
9	deep	deep	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 sinking	amod
10	sinking	sink	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	8 preventing	conj
11	in	in	ADP	_	12 mud	case
12	mud	mud	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 sinking	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	distribute	present	Its broad hooves	its weight		vn contribute-13.2-1 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent weight=Theme
2	prevent	gerund	Its broad hooves not said here			vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Causer
3	sink	gerund	Its broad hooves not said here		mud	vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=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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