Exam question 2 · The axolotl, the tardigrade and the mantis shrimp

Identify the principal reason for which a tardigrade may survive desiccation for a period of years.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, tardigrade · What happens: identify, survive · To what, where: principal reason, desiccation

This is exam question 2 of lesson 44 «The axolotl, the tardigrade and the mantis shrimp» 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 reason	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 reason	amod
4	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
5	for	for	ADP	_	6 which	case
6	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	10 survive	obl
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 tardigrade	det
8	tardigrade	tardigrade	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 survive	nsubj
9	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	10 survive	aux
10	survive	survive	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 reason	acl:relcl
11	desiccation	desiccation	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 survive	obj
12	for	for	ADP	_	14 period	case
13	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 period	det
14	period	period	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 survive	obl
15	of	of	ADP	_	16 years	case
16	years	year	NOUN	Number=Plur	14 period	nmod
17	.	.	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 reason					vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme
2	survive	may	a tardigrade	desiccation				for the principal reason; for a period of years	vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme desiccation=Circumstance

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 right answer

It contracts into a tun, in which its bodily processes almost cease

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 contracts	nsubj
2	contracts	contract	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	into	into	ADP	_	5 tun	case
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 tun	det
5	tun	tun	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 contracts	obl
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 cease	punct
7	in	in	ADP	_	8 which	case
8	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	13 cease	obl
9	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	11 processes	nmod:poss
10	bodily	bodily	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 processes	amod
11	processes	process	NOUN	Number=Plur	13 cease	nsubj
12	almost	almost	ADV	_	13 cease	advmod
13	cease	cease	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 contracts	parataxis

#	verb	tense, mood	who	other	roles by
1	contract	present	It	into a tun result	vn bend-45.2 «NP V NP PP.result»: agent=Agent into tun=Result
2	cease	present	tun's bodily processes	almost property	vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality
3	process		tun		nom process «act transitive»: poss=agent

Option 2

It burrows down to such great depths that water there is never absent

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 burrows	nsubj
2	burrows	burrow	NOUN	Number=Plur	root	root
3	down	down	ADV	_	7 depths	advmod
4	to	to	ADP	_	7 depths	case
5	such	such	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 depths	amod
6	great	great	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 depths	amod
7	depths	depth	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 burrows	nmod
8	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	9 water	det
9	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 depths	obj
10	there	there	PRON	PronType=Dem	11 is	expl
11	is	be	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 burrows	acl:relcl
12	never	never	ADV	PronType=Neg	13 absent	advmod
13	absent	absent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 burrows	advcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	be	present	burrows to such great depths not said here			there			vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 3

It stores within its body a reserve of water sufficient for many years

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 stores	nsubj
2	stores	store	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	within	within	ADP	_	5 body	case
4	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	5 body	nmod:poss
5	body	body	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 stores	obl
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 reserve	det
7	reserve	reserve	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 stores	obj
8	of	of	ADP	_	9 water	case
9	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 reserve	nmod
10	sufficient	sufficient	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 stores	conj
11	for	for	ADP	_	13 years	case
12	many	many	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 years	amod
13	years	year	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 sufficient	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	store	present	It	a reserve of water				within its body	vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reserve=Theme

Option 4

It is constructed of a material which no force upon Earth can destroy

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	3 constructed	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 constructed	aux:pass
3	constructed	construct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 material	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 material	det
6	material	material	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 constructed	obl
7	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	13 destroy	obj
8	no	no	DET	PronType=Neg	9 force	det
9	force	force	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 destroy	nsubj
10	upon	upon	ADP	_	11 Earth	case
11	Earth	Earth	PROPN	Number=Sing	9 force	nmod
12	can	can	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	13 destroy	aux
13	destroy	destroy	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	6 material	acl:relcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	construct	present · passive		It				of a material	vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: subject=Result
2	destroy	can	no force upon Earth	a material					vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent which=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.

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