Exam question 4 · Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 4: How the Leopard got…
State, in accordance with established biology, the manner in which the patterns of animals' coats are acquired.
Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 1 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: coats · What happens: establish, acquire, pattern · To what, where: patterns, manner
This is exam question 4 of lesson 77 «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 4: How the Leopard got his Spots, part 1 (the game goes into the forest)» of the books 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 | State | state | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 2 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 4 accordance | punct |
| 3 | in | in | ADP | _ | 4 accordance | case |
| 4 | accordance | accordance | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 State | appos |
| 5 | with | with | ADP | _ | 7 biology | case |
| 6 | established | establish | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 7 biology | amod |
| 7 | biology | biology | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 accordance | nmod |
| 8 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 10 manner | punct |
| 9 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 10 manner | det |
| 10 | manner | manner | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 biology | appos |
| 11 | in | in | ADP | _ | 12 which | case |
| 12 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 20 acquired | obl |
| 13 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 14 patterns | det |
| 14 | patterns | pattern | NOUN | Number=Plur | 20 acquired | nsubj:pass |
| 15 | of | of | ADP | _ | 18 coats | case |
| 16 | animals | animal | NOUN | Number=Plur | 18 coats | nmod:poss |
| 17 | ' | 's | PART | _ | 16 animals | case |
| 18 | coats | coat | NOUN | Number=Plur | 14 patterns | nmod |
| 19 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 20 acquired | aux:pass |
| 20 | acquired | acquire | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 10 manner | acl:relcl |
| 21 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 1 State | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | establish | participle | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot | ||||||
| 2 | acquire | present · passive | the patterns of animals's coats | the manner | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Theme | ||||
| 3 | pattern | animals's coats | nom pattern «cognition 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 right answer
By inheritance from the parents, shaped over many generations
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | By | by | ADP | _ | 2 inheritance | case |
| 2 | inheritance | inheritance | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 shaped | obl |
| 3 | from | from | ADP | _ | 5 parents | case |
| 4 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 5 parents | det |
| 5 | parents | parent | NOUN | Number=Plur | 2 inheritance | nmod |
| 6 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 7 shaped | punct |
| 7 | shaped | shape | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 8 | over | over | ADP | _ | 10 generations | case |
| 9 | many | many | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 10 generations | amod |
| 10 | generations | generation | NOUN | Number=Plur | 7 shaped | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | shape | participle | over many generations | by inheritance from the parents | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
Option 2
By the deliberate painting of the coat with mud and charcoal
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | By | by | ADP | _ | 4 painting | case |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 4 painting | det |
| 3 | deliberate | deliberate | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 4 painting | amod |
| 4 | painting | painting | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 5 | of | of | ADP | _ | 7 coat | case |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 coat | det |
| 7 | coat | coat | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 painting | nmod |
| 8 | with | with | ADP | _ | 9 mud | case |
| 9 | mud | mud | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 coat | nmod |
| 10 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 11 charcoal | cc |
| 11 | charcoal | charcoal | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 mud | conj |
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.
Option 3
By the consumption of plants bearing spotted or striped leaves
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | By | by | ADP | _ | 3 consumption | case |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 consumption | det |
| 3 | consumption | consumption | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 4 | of | of | ADP | _ | 5 plants | case |
| 5 | plants | plant | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 consumption | nmod |
| 6 | bearing | bear | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 5 plants | acl |
| 7 | spotted | spot | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 10 leaves | amod |
| 8 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 9 striped | cc |
| 9 | striped | stripe | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 7 spotted | conj |
| 10 | leaves | leaf | NOUN | Number=Plur | 6 bearing | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | bear | gerund | plants not said here | spotted leaves | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent leaf=Patient | ||||
| 2 | spot | participle | vn weather-57 «It V PP.theme» | ||||||
| 3 | stripe | participle | tree rules | ||||||
| 4 | consume | plants | nom consumption «act transitive»: of=patient |
Option 4 · ← Mova's choice
By prolonged standing in the shadows cast by forest trees
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | By | by | SCONJ | _ | 2 prolonged | mark |
| 2 | prolonged | prolong | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | standing | stand | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 2 prolonged | advcl |
| 4 | in | in | ADP | _ | 6 shadows | case |
| 5 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 6 shadows | det |
| 6 | shadows | shadow | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 standing | obl |
| 7 | cast | cast | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 6 shadows | acl |
| 8 | by | by | ADP | _ | 10 trees | case |
| 9 | forest | forest | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 trees | compound |
| 10 | trees | tree | NOUN | Number=Plur | 7 cast | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | prolong | past | vn sustain-55.6 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent | ||||||
| 2 | stand | gerund | the shadows | vn assuming_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in shadow=Location | |||||
| 3 | cast | participle | the shadows not said here | by forest trees | vn throw-17.1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent by tree=Destination |
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/books/77-justso-leopard-spots-1/e4/