Exam question 4 · How plants grow: seeds, light, water and air
It is given that an investigator wishes to ascertain whether warmth is necessary for germination. Determine the variable to be altered.
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: investigator, warmth, you · What happens: give, wish, ascertain, be, determine, alter · To what, where: It, variable
This is exam question 4 of lesson 56 «How plants grow: seeds, light, water and air» 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
Sentence 1: It is given that an investigator wishes to ascertain whether warmth is necessary for germination.
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 given | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 given | aux:pass |
| 3 | given | give | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 4 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 7 wishes | mark |
| 5 | an | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 6 investigator | det |
| 6 | investigator | investigator | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 wishes | nsubj |
| 7 | wishes | wish | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 given | advcl |
| 8 | to | to | PART | _ | 9 ascertain | mark |
| 9 | ascertain | ascertain | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 7 wishes | xcomp |
| 10 | whether | whether | SCONJ | _ | 13 necessary | mark |
| 11 | warmth | warmth | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 necessary | nsubj |
| 12 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 13 necessary | cop |
| 13 | necessary | necessary | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 9 ascertain | ccomp |
| 14 | for | for | ADP | _ | 15 germination | case |
| 15 | germination | germination | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 necessary | obl |
| 16 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 3 given | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | give | present · passive | It | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | |||||
| 2 | wish | present | a investigator | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme | |||||
| 3 | ascertain not said to happen | to-infinitive | a investigator not said here | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 4 | is | present | warmth | for germination; necessary property | tree rules |
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.
Sentence 2: Determine the variable to be altered.
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Determine | determine | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 variable | det |
| 3 | variable | variable | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Determine | obj |
| 4 | to | to | PART | _ | 6 altered | mark |
| 5 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 6 altered | aux:pass |
| 6 | altered | alter | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 3 variable | acl |
| 7 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 1 Determine | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | determine | imperative | you not said here | the variable | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent variable=Topic | ||||
| 2 | alter | to-infinitive · passive | you not said here | the variable not said here | vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V» |
The options
Option 1 · ← Mova's choice
Light, temperature and soil simultaneously
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Light | light | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 2 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 3 temperature | punct |
| 3 | temperature | temperature | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Light | conj |
| 4 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 5 soil | cc |
| 5 | soil | soil | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Light | conj |
| 6 | simultaneously | simultaneously | ADV | _ | 1 Light | advmod |
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.
Option 2
No variable whatsoever
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No | no | DET | PronType=Neg | 2 variable | det |
| 2 | variable | variable | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 3 | whatsoever | whatsoever | ADV | _ | 2 variable | advmod |
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.
Option 3
Temperature together with the supply of water and the quantity of light
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Temperature | temperature | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 2 | together | together | ADV | _ | 1 Temperature | advmod |
| 3 | with | with | ADP | _ | 5 supply | case |
| 4 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 5 supply | det |
| 5 | supply | supply | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Temperature | nmod |
| 6 | of | of | ADP | _ | 7 water | case |
| 7 | water | water | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 supply | nmod |
| 8 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 10 quantity | cc |
| 9 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 10 quantity | det |
| 10 | quantity | quantity | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 supply | conj |
| 11 | of | of | ADP | _ | 12 light | case |
| 12 | light | light | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 quantity | nmod |
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.
Option 4 · ✓ the right answer
Temperature alone, all other conditions being held constant
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Temperature | temperature | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 held | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | alone | alone | ADV | _ | 1 Temperature | advmod |
| 3 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 6 conditions | punct |
| 4 | all | all | DET | PronType=Tot | 6 conditions | det |
| 5 | other | other | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 6 conditions | amod |
| 6 | conditions | condition | NOUN | Number=Plur | 8 held | nsubj:pass |
| 7 | being | be | AUX | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 8 held | aux:pass |
| 8 | held | hold | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 9 | constant | constant | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 8 held | xcomp |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | hold | gerund · passive | Temperature | constant property | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
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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