Exam question 4 · The Arctic: ice, snow and the polar bear's world

Ascertain the defensive conduct of musk oxen upon the approach of wolves.

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 3 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, wolves · What happens: ascertain, conduct, approach · To what, where: defensive conduct, musk oxen

This is exam question 4 of lesson 6 «The Arctic: ice, snow and the polar bear's world» 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	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 conduct	det
3	defensive	defensive	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 conduct	amod
4	conduct	conduct	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	7 oxen	case
6	musk	musk	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 oxen	compound
7	oxen	ox	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 conduct	nmod
8	upon	upon	ADP	_	10 approach	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 approach	det
10	approach	approach	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 oxen	nmod
11	of	of	ADP	_	12 wolves	case
12	wolves	wolf	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 approach	nmod
13	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the defensive conduct of musk oxen upon the approach of wolves	vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent conduct=Topic
2	conduct			musk oxen upon the approach of wolves	nom conduct «act transitive»: of=patient
3	approach		wolves		nom approach «act intransitive»: of=agent

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 calves are concealed in burrows excavated beneath the snow

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 calves	det
2	calves	calf	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	in	in	ADP	_	6 burrows	case
6	burrows	burrow	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 concealed	obl
7	excavated	excavate	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 burrows	acl
8	beneath	beneath	ADP	_	10 snow	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 snow	det
10	snow	snow	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 excavated	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	conceal	present · passive		the calves		burrows			vn concealment-16 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Patient in burrow=Location
2	excavate	participle		burrows not said here		the snow			vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent beneath snow=Location

Option 2

The herd disperses in every direction

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 herd	det
2	herd	herd	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 disperses	nsubj
3	disperses	disperse	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	in	in	ADP	_	6 direction	case
5	every	every	DET	PronType=Tot	6 direction	det
6	direction	direction	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 disperses	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	disperse	present	the herd			every direction			vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient

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

The herd forms a ring with horns directed outward and the calves enclosed within

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 herd	det
2	herd	herd	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 forms	nsubj
3	forms	form	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 ring	det
5	ring	ring	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 forms	obj
6	with	with	ADP	_	7 horns	case
7	horns	horn	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 ring	nmod
8	directed	direct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	7 horns	acl
9	outward	outward	ADV	_	8 directed	advmod
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	12 calves	cc
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 calves	det
12	calves	calf	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 horns	conj
13	enclosed	enclose	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	12 calves	acl
14	within	within	ADP	_	13 enclosed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	form	present	the herd	a ring	with horns and the calves	vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location ring=Theme
2	direct	participle		horns and the calves not said here	outward property	vn performance-26.7 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	enclose	participle		the calves not said here		vn contiguous_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme

Option 4

Each animal lies motionless upon the snow

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	2 animal	det
2	animal	animal	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 lies	nsubj
3	lies	lie	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	motionless	motionless	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 lies	xcomp
5	upon	upon	ADP	_	7 snow	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 snow	det
7	snow	snow	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 lies	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	lie	present	each animal			the snow		motionless property	vn assuming_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent upon snow=Location

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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