Exam question 1 · Coral reefs, rockpools and the seashore

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a coral reef?

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · What happens: follow, characteris · To what, where: coral reef

This is exam question 1 of lesson 9 «Coral reefs, rockpools and the seashore» 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	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 reef	det
10	coral	coral	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 reef	amod
11	reef	reef	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
12	?	?	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		a coral reef				of the following statements; accurately 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.

The options

Option 1

A coral reef is an accumulation of shells and pebbles deposited over many centuries by the action of waves

The tree, 19 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 reef	det
2	coral	coral	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 reef	amod
3	reef	reef	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 accumulation	nsubj
4	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 accumulation	cop
5	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 accumulation	det
6	accumulation	accumulation	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 deposited	nsubj
7	of	of	ADP	_	8 shells	case
8	shells	shell	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 accumulation	nmod
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 pebbles	cc
10	pebbles	pebble	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 shells	conj
11	deposited	deposit	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
12	over	over	ADP	_	14 centuries	case
13	many	many	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 centuries	amod
14	centuries	century	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 deposited	obl
15	by	by	ADP	_	17 action	case
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 action	det
17	action	action	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 deposited	obl
18	of	of	ADP	_	19 waves	case
19	waves	wave	NOUN	Number=Plur	17 action	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	a coral reef	a accumulation		of shells and pebbles	tree rules
2	deposit	past	a accumulation		century	by the action of waves	vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent by action=Destination
3	act		waves				nom action «act intransitive»: of=agent

Option 2

A coral reef is a mass of petrified seaweed

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 reef	det
2	coral	coral	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 reef	amod
3	reef	reef	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 mass	nsubj
4	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 mass	cop
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 mass	det
6	mass	mass	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 seaweed	case
8	petrified	petrify	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	9 seaweed	amod
9	seaweed	seaweed	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 mass	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	a coral reef	a mass				of petrified seaweed	tree rules
2	petrify	participle							vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient

Option 3

A coral reef is a formation of volcanic rock

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 reef	det
2	coral	coral	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 reef	amod
3	reef	reef	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 formation	nsubj
4	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 formation	cop
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 formation	det
6	formation	formation	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 rock	case
8	volcanic	volcanic	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 rock	amod
9	rock	rock	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 formation	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	a coral reef	a formation				of volcanic rock	tree rules

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

A coral reef is a structure of limestone constructed by colonies of minute animals termed polyps

The tree, 16 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 reef	det
2	coral	coral	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 reef	amod
3	reef	reef	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 structure	nsubj
4	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 structure	cop
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 structure	det
6	structure	structure	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
7	of	of	ADP	_	8 limestone	case
8	limestone	limestone	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 structure	nmod
9	constructed	construct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 structure	acl
10	by	by	ADP	_	11 colonies	case
11	colonies	colony	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 constructed	obl
12	of	of	ADP	_	14 animals	case
13	minute	minute	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 animals	compound
14	animals	animal	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 colonies	nmod
15	termed	term	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	16 polyps	amod
16	polyps	polyp	NOUN	Number=Plur	14 animals	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	is a	present	a coral reef	a structure	of limestone	tree rules
2	construct	participle		a structure not said here	by colonies of minute animals and termed polyps	vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
3	term	participle				vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

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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