Exam question 2 · Bites, stings and scratches: mosquitoes, wasps, ticks, dog…

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the sting of the honeybee in comparison with that of the wasp?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris, sting · To what, where: sting, comparison, honeybee

This is exam question 2 of lesson 399 «Bites, stings and scratches: mosquitoes, wasps, ticks, dog bites and cat scratches» 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	10 sting	det
10	sting	sting	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 honeybee	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 honeybee	det
13	honeybee	honeybee	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 sting	nmod
14	in	in	ADP	_	15 comparison	case
15	comparison	comparison	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obl
16	with	with	ADP	_	17 that	case
17	that	that	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	15 comparison	nmod
18	of	of	ADP	_	20 wasp	case
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 wasp	det
20	wasp	wasp	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 that	nmod
21	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present	the sting of the honeybee	comparison with that	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	sting		the honeybee			nom sting «state 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 sting of the wasp remains in the skin, whereas that of the honeybee may be withdrawn and employed repeatedly against an intruder

The tree, 23 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 sting	det
2	sting	sting	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 remains	nsubj
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 wasp	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 wasp	det
5	wasp	wasp	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 sting	nmod
6	remains	remain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
7	in	in	ADP	_	9 skin	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 skin	det
9	skin	skin	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 remains	obl
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	18 withdrawn	punct
11	whereas	whereas	SCONJ	_	12 that	case
12	that	that	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	18 withdrawn	nsubj:pass
13	of	of	ADP	_	15 honeybee	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 honeybee	det
15	honeybee	honeybee	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 that	nmod
16	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	18 withdrawn	aux
17	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	18 withdrawn	aux:pass
18	withdrawn	withdraw	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 remains	conj
19	and	and	CCONJ	_	20 employed	cc
20	employed	employ	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	18 withdrawn	conj
21	repeatedly	repeatedly	ADV	_	18 withdrawn	advmod
22	against	against	ADP	_	24 intruder	case
23	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	24 intruder	det
24	intruder	intruder	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 withdrawn	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	remain	present	the sting of the wasp		the skin		vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in skin=Location
2	withdraw	may · passive		that		against a intruder; repeatedly property	vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
3	employ	participle					vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
4	sting			the wasp			nom sting «state transitive»: of=patient

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

The barbed sting of the honeybee remains in the skin, whereas the smooth sting of the wasp may be employed repeatedly

The tree, 21 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 sting	det
2	barbed	barbed	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 sting	amod
3	sting	sting	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 remains	nsubj
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 honeybee	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 honeybee	det
6	honeybee	honeybee	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 sting	nmod
7	remains	remain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
8	in	in	ADP	_	10 skin	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 skin	det
10	skin	skin	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 remains	obl
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	21 employed	punct
12	whereas	whereas	SCONJ	_	21 employed	mark
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 sting	det
14	smooth	smooth	ADJ	Degree=Pos	15 sting	amod
15	sting	sting	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 employed	nsubj:pass
16	of	of	ADP	_	18 wasp	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 wasp	det
18	wasp	wasp	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 sting	nmod
19	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	21 employed	aux
20	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	21 employed	aux:pass
21	employed	employ	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	7 remains	conj
22	repeatedly	repeatedly	ADV	_	21 employed	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	remain	present	the barbed sting of the honeybee		the skin		vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in skin=Location
2	employ	may · passive		the smooth sting of the wasp		repeatedly property	vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
3	sting			the honeybee			nom sting «state transitive»: of=patient
4	sting			the wasp			nom sting «state transitive»: of=patient

Option 3

Neither insect possesses a sting

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Neither	neither	DET	PronType=Neg	2 insect	det
2	insect	insect	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 possesses	nsubj
3	possesses	possess	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 sting	det
5	sting	sting	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 possesses	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	possess	present	neither insect	a sting					vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot sting=Theme

Option 4

Both insects may sting only once

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Both	both	DET	PronType=Tot	2 insects	det
2	insects	insect	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 sting	nsubj
3	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	4 sting	aux
4	sting	sting	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
5	only	only	ADV	_	6 once	advmod
6	once	once	ADV	NumForm=Word NumType=Mult	4 sting	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	sting	may	both insects					once property	vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer

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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