Exam question 4 · Clever primates: tool-using chimps, Kanzi the bonobo and A…

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the scientific assessment of signing by the gorilla Koko?

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 3 · right ✓ · Who acts: scientific assessment · What happens: follow, characteris, sign · To what, where: scientific assessment

This is exam question 4 of lesson 387 «Clever primates: tool-using chimps, Kanzi the bonobo and Ayumu's memory» 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	Which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 characterises	nsubj
2	of	of	ADP	_	5 statements	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 statements	det
4	following	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 statements	amod
5	statements	statement	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 characterises	obl
6	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	7 accurately	advmod
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	_	8 characterises	advmod
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 assessment	det
10	scientific	scientific	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 assessment	amod
11	assessment	assessment	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
12	of	of	SCONJ	_	13 signing	mark
13	signing	sign	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	11 assessment	acl
14	by	by	ADP	_	16 gorilla	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 gorilla	det
16	gorilla	gorilla	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 signing	obl
17	Koko	Koko	PROPN	Number=Sing	16 gorilla	appos
18	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the scientific assessment	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	sign	gerund	the scientific assessment not said here		by the gorilla	vn image_impression-25.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent

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

She is agreed to have understood no sign whatsoever

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 agreed	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 agreed	aux:pass
3	agreed	agree	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	to	to	PART	_	6 understood	mark
5	have	have	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	6 understood	aux
6	understood	understand	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	3 agreed	xcomp
7	no	no	DET	PronType=Neg	8 sign	det
8	sign	sign	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 understood	obj
9	whatsoever	whatsoever	ADV	_	6 understood	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	agree speech: agree	present · passive		She					vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V PP.co-agent that S»: subject=Co-Agent clause=Topic
2	understand not said to happen	to-infinitive · perfect		no sign				whatsoever property	vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer sign=Stimulus

Option 2

She is agreed by all scientists to have understood every sign without exception

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 agreed	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 agreed	aux:pass
3	agreed	agree	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	ADP	_	6 scientists	case
5	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	6 scientists	det
6	scientists	scientist	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 agreed	obl:agent
7	to	to	PART	_	9 understood	mark
8	have	have	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	9 understood	aux
9	understood	understand	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	3 agreed	advcl
10	every	every	DET	PronType=Tot	11 sign	det
11	sign	sign	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 understood	obj
12	without	without	ADP	_	13 exception	case
13	exception	exception	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 understood	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	agree speech: agree	present · passive	all scientists	She					vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent subject=Topic
2	understand	to-infinitive · perfect	all scientists not said here	every sign				without exception	vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer sign=Stimulus

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

Her use of signs is acknowledged, but the extent of her comprehension remains disputed

The tree, 14 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	2 use	nmod:poss
2	use	use	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 acknowledged	nsubj:pass
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 signs	case
4	signs	sign	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 use	nmod
5	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 acknowledged	aux:pass
6	acknowledged	acknowledge	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 remains	punct
8	but	but	CCONJ	_	14 remains	cc
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 extent	det
10	extent	extent	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 remains	nsubj
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 comprehension	case
12	her	her	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	13 comprehension	nmod:poss
13	comprehension	comprehension	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 extent	nmod
14	remains	remain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 acknowledged	conj
15	disputed	dispute	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	14 remains	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	acknowledge	present · passive		Her use of signs	vn confess-37.10 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic
2	remain	present	the extent of extent's comprehension		tree rules
3	dispute	participle	the extent of extent's comprehension not said here		vn battle-36.4 «NP V»: agent=Agent
4	use		Her = she	signs	nom use «act transitive»: poss=agent of=patient
5	extend			extent's comprehension	nom extent «state transitive»: of=patient
6	comprehend		extent		nom comprehension «cognition transitive»: poss=agent

Option 4

She has been conclusively demonstrated to speak aloud

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	She	she	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	5 demonstrated	nsubj
2	has	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 demonstrated	aux
3	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	5 demonstrated	aux:pass
4	conclusively	conclusively	ADV	_	5 demonstrated	advmod
5	demonstrated	demonstrate	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	to	to	PART	_	7 speak	mark
7	speak	speak	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	5 demonstrated	xcomp
8	aloud	aloud	ADV	_	7 speak	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	demonstrate	present · perfect · passive		She				conclusively property	tree rules
2	speak speech: other	to-infinitive						aloud property	vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent

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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/387-clever-primates-tool-using-chimps-kanzi-the-bonobo-and-ayumu-s-memory/e4/