Exam question 1 · Seeds and fruit and how they travel

Identify the means by which the seed of the dandelion is dispersed.

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 1 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, the · What happens: identify, mean, disperse · To what, where: seed · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 1 of lesson 59 «Seeds and fruit and how they travel» 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	3 means	nsubj
3	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	1 Identify	ccomp
4	by	by	ADP	_	5 which	case
5	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	12 dispersed	obl
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 seed	det
7	seed	seed	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 dispersed	nsubj:pass
8	of	of	ADP	_	10 dandelion	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 dandelion	det
10	dandelion	dandelion	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 seed	nmod
11	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	12 dispersed	aux:pass
12	dispersed	disperse	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 means	ccomp
13	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here		vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
2	mean	present	the		vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
3	disperse	present · passive		the seed of the dandelion	vn other_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=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 · ✓ the right answer

By wind, the descent being slowed by a parachute of fine hairs

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	ADP	_	2 wind	case
2	wind	wind	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 slowed	obl
3	,	,	PUNCT	_	2 wind	punct
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 descent	det
5	descent	descent	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 slowed	nsubj
6	being	be	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	7 slowed	aux:pass
7	slowed	slow	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
8	by	by	ADP	_	10 parachute	case
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	10 parachute	det
10	parachute	parachute	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 slowed	obl
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 hairs	case
12	fine	fine	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 hairs	amod
13	hairs	hair	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 parachute	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	slow	gerund · passive	wind	the descent				by a parachute of fine hairs	vn other_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent subject=Patient

Option 2

By the adherence of small hooks to the fur of passing animals

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	ADP	_	3 adherence	case
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 adherence	det
3	adherence	adherence	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 hooks	case
5	small	small	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 hooks	amod
6	hooks	hook	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 adherence	nmod
7	to	to	ADP	_	9 fur	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 fur	det
9	fur	fur	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 hooks	nmod
10	of	of	ADP	_	12 animals	case
11	passing	pass	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	12 animals	amod
12	animals	animal	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 fur	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	pass	gerund							vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice

By water, the seed being buoyant

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	ADP	_	2 water	case
2	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 buoyant	obl
3	,	,	PUNCT	_	2 water	punct
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 seed	det
5	seed	seed	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 buoyant	nsubj
6	being	be	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	7 buoyant	cop
7	buoyant	buoyant	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	gerund	the seed					by water; buoyant property	tree rules

Option 4

By explosive rupture of a pod

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	ADP	_	3 rupture	case
2	explosive	explosive	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 rupture	amod
3	rupture	rupture	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 pod	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 pod	det
6	pod	pod	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 rupture	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	rupture			a pod					nom rupture «state transitive»: of=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/59-seeds-and-fruit-and-how-they-travel/e1/