Exam question 2 · How animals defend themselves
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the defensive conduct of the porcupine?
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris, conduct · To what, where: defensive conduct, porcupine
This is exam question 2 of lesson 53 «How animals defend themselves» 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 conduct | det |
| 10 | defensive | defensive | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 11 conduct | amod |
| 11 | conduct | conduct | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 characterises | obj |
| 12 | of | of | ADP | _ | 14 porcupine | case |
| 13 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 14 porcupine | det |
| 14 | porcupine | porcupine | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 conduct | nmod |
| 15 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 8 characterises | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | follow | gerund | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||||
| 2 | characteris | present | the defensive conduct of the porcupine | of the following statements; accurately property | tree rules | ||||
| 3 | conduct | the porcupine | nom conduct «act 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 quills are concealed until the animal is seized
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 quills | det |
| 2 | quills | quill | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 concealed | nsubj:pass |
| 3 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 concealed | aux:pass |
| 4 | concealed | conceal | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 5 | until | until | SCONJ | _ | 9 seized | mark |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 animal | det |
| 7 | animal | animal | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 seized | nsubj:pass |
| 8 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 9 seized | aux:pass |
| 9 | seized | seize | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 4 concealed | advcl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | conceal | present · passive | the quills | vn concealment-16 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient | |||||
| 2 | seize | present · passive | the animal | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
Option 2
The quills are propelled through the air towards the assailant at speed
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 quills | det |
| 2 | quills | quill | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 propelled | nsubj:pass |
| 3 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 propelled | aux:pass |
| 4 | propelled | propel | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 5 | through | through | ADP | _ | 7 air | case |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 air | det |
| 7 | air | air | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 propelled | obl |
| 8 | towards | towards | ADP | _ | 10 assailant | case |
| 9 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 10 assailant | det |
| 10 | assailant | assailant | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 propelled | obl |
| 11 | at | at | ADP | _ | 12 speed | case |
| 12 | speed | speed | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 assailant | nmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | propel | present · passive | the quills | the air | towards the assailant at speed | tree rules |
Option 3
The quills are discharged together with a noxious spray
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 quills | det |
| 2 | quills | quill | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 discharged | nsubj:pass |
| 3 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 discharged | aux:pass |
| 4 | discharged | discharge | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 5 | together | together | ADV | _ | 4 discharged | advmod |
| 6 | with | with | ADP | _ | 9 spray | case |
| 7 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 9 spray | det |
| 8 | noxious | noxious | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 9 spray | amod |
| 9 | spray | spray | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 discharged | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | discharge | present · passive | the quills | with a noxious spray; together property | vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
Option 4 · ✓ the right answer
The quills are raised and rattled and detach readily upon contact
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 quills | det |
| 2 | quills | quill | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 raised | nsubj:pass |
| 3 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 raised | aux:pass |
| 4 | raised | raise | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 5 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 6 rattled | cc |
| 6 | rattled | rattle | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 4 raised | conj |
| 7 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 8 detach | cc |
| 8 | detach | detach | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 4 raised | conj |
| 9 | readily | readily | ADV | _ | 8 detach | advmod |
| 10 | upon | upon | ADP | _ | 11 contact | case |
| 11 | contact | contact | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 detach | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | raise | present · passive | the quills | vn put_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | |||||
| 2 | rattle | participle | vn animal_sounds-38 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ||||||
| 3 | detach | infinitive | upon contact; readily property | vn disassemble-23.3 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=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/53-how-animals-defend-themselves/e2/