Exam question 3 · Giant reptiles of the past: Titanoboa, Sarcosuchus, Deinos…

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the discovery of Sarcosuchus in the Sahara.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, established facts · What happens: select, establish, concern, discover · To what, where: response, discovery, Sarcosuchus

This is exam question 3 of lesson 383 «Giant reptiles of the past: Titanoboa, Sarcosuchus, Deinosuchus and giant tortoises» 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 discovery	det
11	discovery	discovery	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 concerning	obj
12	of	of	ADP	_	13 Sarcosuchus	case
13	Sarcosuchus	Sarcosuchus	PROPN	Number=Sing	11 discovery	nmod
14	in	in	ADP	_	16 Sahara	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 Sahara	det
16	Sahara	Sahara	PROPN	Number=Sing	13 Sarcosuchus	nmod
17	.	.	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 discovery of Sarcosuchus in the Sahara		vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus discovery=Experiencer
4	discover			Sarcosuchus in the Sahara		nom discovery «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 · ← Mova's choice

The animal was a desert lizard

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 animal	det
2	animal	animal	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 lizard	nsubj
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 lizard	cop
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 lizard	det
5	desert	desert	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 lizard	compound
6	lizard	lizard	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	past	the animal	a desert lizard					tree rules

Option 2

The fossils were transported thither by wind

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 fossils	det
2	fossils	fossil	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 transported	nsubj:pass
3	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 transported	aux:pass
4	transported	transport	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	thither	thither	ADV	_	4 transported	advmod
6	by	by	ADP	_	7 wind	case
7	wind	wind	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 transported	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	transport	past · passive	wind	the fossils				thither property	vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus subject=Experiencer

Option 3

Crocodiles have at all times inhabited dry sand like lizards

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Crocodiles	crocodile	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 have	nsubj
2	have	have	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	at	at	ADP	_	5 times	case
4	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	5 times	det
5	times	time	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 have	obl
6	inhabited	inhabit	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 times	acl
7	dry	dry	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 sand	amod
8	sand	sand	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 inhabited	obj
9	like	like	ADP	_	10 lizards	case
10	lizards	lizard	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 inhabited	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	have	present	Crocodiles				time		vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
2	inhabit	participle	all times not said here	dry sand				like lizards	tree rules

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

The region was formerly characterised by rivers and swamps

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 region	det
2	region	region	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 characterised	nsubj:pass
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 characterised	aux:pass
4	formerly	formerly	ADV	_	5 characterised	advmod
5	characterised	characteris	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	by	by	ADP	_	7 rivers	case
7	rivers	river	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 characterised	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 swamps	cc
9	swamps	swamp	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 rivers	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	characteris	past · passive	rivers and swamps	the region				formerly 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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