Exam question 3 · The platypus and the echidna: mammals that lay eggs

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the spines of the echidna.

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 3 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, established facts · What happens: select, establish, concern · To what, where: response, spines

This is exam question 3 of lesson 43 «The platypus and the echidna: mammals that lay eggs» 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 spines	det
11	spines	spine	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 concerning	obj
12	of	of	ADP	_	14 echidna	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 echidna	det
14	echidna	echidna	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 spines	nmod
15	.	.	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 spines of the echidna		vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus spine=Experiencer

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

The spines are shed and regrown on a daily basis

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 spines	det
2	spines	spine	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 shed	nsubj:pass
3	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 shed	aux:pass
4	shed	shed	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	and	and	CCONJ	_	6 regrown	cc
6	regrown	regrow	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 shed	conj
7	on	on	ADP	_	10 basis	case
8	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 basis	det
9	daily	daily	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 basis	amod
10	basis	basis	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 regrown	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	shed	present · passive		the spines					vn substance_emission-43.4-1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Source
2	regrow	participle				a daily basis			tree rules

Option 2

The spines are feathers of an unusual form, inherited from the ancestral birds

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 spines	det
2	spines	spine	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 feathers	nsubj
3	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 feathers	cop
4	feathers	feather	NOUN	Number=Plur	root	root
5	of	of	ADP	_	8 form	case
6	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 form	det
7	unusual	unusual	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 form	amod
8	form	form	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 feathers	nmod
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 inherited	punct
10	inherited	inherit	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 feathers	acl
11	from	from	ADP	_	14 birds	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 birds	det
13	ancestral	ancestral	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 birds	amod
14	birds	bird	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 inherited	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	the spines	feathers				of a unusual form	tree rules
2	inherit	participle		feathers not said here				from the ancestral birds	vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent from bird=Source

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

The spines are modified hairs, protecting an animal unable to flee rapidly

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 spines	det
2	spines	spine	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 hairs	nsubj
3	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 hairs	cop
4	modified	modify	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 hairs	amod
5	hairs	hair	NOUN	Number=Plur	root	root
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	7 protecting	punct
7	protecting	protect	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 hairs	acl
8	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 animal	det
9	animal	animal	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 protecting	obj
10	unable	unable	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 protecting	xcomp
11	to	to	PART	_	12 flee	mark
12	flee	flee	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	10 unable	xcomp
13	rapidly	rapidly	ADV	_	12 flee	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	other	roles by
1	modify	participle					vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient
2	is a	present	the spines	modified hairs			tree rules
3	protect	gerund	modified hairs not said here		a animal	unable property	vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent animal=Beneficiary
4	flee	to-infinitive	modified hairs not said here			rapidly property	vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 4

The spines are hollow and inject a venom sufficient to disable a dingo

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 spines	det
2	spines	spine	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 hollow	nsubj
3	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 hollow	cop
4	hollow	hollow	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
5	and	and	CCONJ	_	6 inject	cc
6	inject	inject	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 hollow	conj
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 venom	det
8	venom	venom	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 inject	obj
9	sufficient	sufficient	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 inject	xcomp
10	to	to	PART	_	11 disable	mark
11	disable	disable	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	6 inject	advcl
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 dingo	det
13	dingo	dingo	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 disable	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	is	present	the spines		hollow property	tree rules
2	inject	present	the spines not said here	a venom	sufficient property	vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent venom=Patient
3	disable	to-infinitive	the spines not said here	a dingo		vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent dingo=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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/43-platypus-and-echidna/e3/