Exam question 1 · Surprising brains: tool-using fish, counting bees, laughin…

Identify the principal manner in which the tuskfish employs an object as an implement.

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, tuskfish · What happens: identify, employ · To what, where: principal manner, object

This is exam question 1 of lesson 388 «Surprising brains: tool-using fish, counting bees, laughing rats and clever pigs» 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	Identify	identify	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 manner	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 manner	amod
4	manner	manner	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
5	in	in	ADP	_	6 which	case
6	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	9 employs	obl
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 tuskfish	det
8	tuskfish	tuskfish	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 employs	nsubj
9	employs	employ	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	1 Identify	parataxis
10	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 object	det
11	object	object	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 employs	obj
12	as	as	ADP	_	14 implement	case
13	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 implement	det
14	implement	implement	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 employs	obl
15	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	the principal manner					vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent manner=Theme
2	employ	present	the tuskfish	a object				as a implement	vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent object=Theme as implement=Attribute

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 shapes stones with its teeth

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 shapes	nsubj
2	shapes	shape	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	stones	stone	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 shapes	obj
4	with	with	ADP	_	6 teeth	case
5	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	6 teeth	nmod:poss
6	teeth	tooth	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 shapes	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	shape	present	It	stones				with its teeth	vn build-26.1-1 «NP.material V NP»: agent=Material stone=Product

Option 2

It grasps a stick with its fins and prises the shell apart

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 grasps	nsubj
2	grasps	grasp	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 stick	det
4	stick	stick	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 grasps	obj
5	with	with	ADP	_	7 fins	case
6	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	7 fins	nmod:poss
7	fins	fin	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 stick	nmod
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 prises	cc
9	prises	prise	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 fins	conj
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 shell	det
11	shell	shell	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 grasps	obl
12	apart	apart	ADV	_	2 grasps	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	grasp	present	It	a stick				with stick's fins and prises; the shell obl; apart property	vn touch-20-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent stick=Experiencer with fin=Instrument

Option 3

It employs a shell as a hat

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 employs	nsubj
2	employs	employ	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 shell	det
4	shell	shell	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 employs	obj
5	as	as	ADP	_	7 hat	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 hat	det
7	hat	hat	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 employs	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	employ	present	It	a shell				as a hat	vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent shell=Theme as hat=Attribute

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

It strikes a clam against a rock, which serves as an anvil

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 strikes	nsubj
2	strikes	strike	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 clam	det
4	clam	clam	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 strikes	obj
5	against	against	ADP	_	7 rock	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 rock	det
7	rock	rock	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 strikes	obl
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 serves	punct
9	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	10 serves	nsubj
10	serves	serve	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 rock	acl:relcl
11	as	as	ADP	_	13 anvil	case
12	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 anvil	det
13	anvil	anvil	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 serves	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	strike	present	It	a clam				against a rock	vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent clam=Instrument against rock=Patient
2	serve	present	a rock					as a anvil	vn masquerade-29.6-2 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Agent as anvil=Attribute

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/388-surprising-brains-tool-using-fish-counting-bees-laughing-rats-and-clever-pigs/e1/