Exam question 4 · Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5: The Elephant's Child…

State, in accordance with established zoology, the customary method of predation employed by the Nile crocodile.

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · What happens: establish, employ · To what, where: customary method

This is exam question 4 of lesson 79 «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5: The Elephant's Child, part 1 (What does the Crocodile have for dinner?)» 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 zoology	case
6	established	establish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	7 zoology	amod
7	zoology	zoology	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 accordance	nmod
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 method	punct
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 method	det
10	customary	customary	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 method	compound
11	method	method	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 zoology	appos
12	of	of	ADP	_	13 predation	case
13	predation	predation	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 method	nmod
14	employed	employ	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	11 method	acl
15	by	by	ADP	_	18 crocodile	case
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 crocodile	det
17	Nile	Nile	PROPN	Number=Sing	18 crocodile	compound
18	crocodile	crocodile	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 employed	obl
19	.	.	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	employ	participle		the customary method of predation not said here				by the Nile crocodile	vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=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

Remaining motionless at the water's edge, ambushing animals that drink there, and sometimes climbing onto the banks to hunt birds in trees at dusk

The tree, 25 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Remaining	remain	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
2	motionless	motionless	ADJ	Degree=Pos	1 Remaining	xcomp
3	at	at	ADP	_	7 edge	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 water	det
5	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 edge	nmod:poss
6	's	's	PART	_	5 water	case
7	edge	edge	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Remaining	obl
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 ambushing	punct
9	ambushing	ambush	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	1 Remaining	conj
10	animals	animal	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 ambushing	obj
11	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	12 drink	nsubj
12	drink	drink	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 animals	acl:relcl
13	there	there	ADV	PronType=Dem	12 drink	advmod
14	,	,	PUNCT	_	17 climbing	punct
15	and	and	CCONJ	_	17 climbing	cc
16	sometimes	sometimes	ADV	PronType=Ind	17 climbing	advmod
17	climbing	climb	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	1 Remaining	conj
18	onto	onto	ADP	_	20 banks	case
19	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 banks	det
20	banks	bank	NOUN	Number=Plur	17 climbing	obl
21	to	to	PART	_	22 hunt	mark
22	hunt	hunt	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	17 climbing	advcl
23	birds	bird	NOUN	Number=Plur	22 hunt	obj
24	in	in	ADP	_	25 trees	case
25	trees	tree	NOUN	Number=Plur	22 hunt	obl
26	at	at	ADP	_	27 dusk	case
27	dusk	dusk	NOUN	Number=Sing	22 hunt	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	remain	gerund			the water's edge		motionless property	vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at edge=Location
2	ambush	gerund		animals				vn attack-60.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent animal=Patient
3	drink	present	animals		there			vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
4	climb	gerund			the banks		sometimes property	vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme onto bank=Trajectory
5	hunt	to-infinitive		birds	trees	dusk		vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent bird=Theme in tree=Location

Option 2

Digging burrows and hiding in them during the midday sun to catch small prey

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Digging	dig	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
2	burrows	burrow	NOUN	Number=Plur	1 Digging	obj
3	and	and	CCONJ	_	4 hiding	cc
4	hiding	hide	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	1 Digging	conj
5	in	in	ADP	_	6 them	case
6	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	4 hiding	obl
7	during	during	ADP	_	10 sun	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 sun	det
9	midday	midday	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 sun	compound
10	sun	sun	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 hiding	obl
11	to	to	PART	_	12 catch	mark
12	catch	catch	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	1 Digging	advcl
13	small	small	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 prey	amod
14	prey	prey	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 catch	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	when	other	roles by
1	dig	gerund	burrows			vn poke-19-1-1-1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent burrow=Theme
2	hide	gerund		during the midday sun	in burrows = burrow	vn concealment-16-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in they=Location
3	catch	to-infinitive	small prey			vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent prey=Theme

Option 3

Remaining motionless at the water's edge and ambushing animals that drink, then dragging them under and drowning them in the river

The tree, 22 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Remaining	remain	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
2	motionless	motionless	ADJ	Degree=Pos	1 Remaining	xcomp
3	at	at	ADP	_	7 edge	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 water	det
5	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 edge	nmod:poss
6	's	's	PART	_	5 water	case
7	edge	edge	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Remaining	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 ambushing	cc
9	ambushing	ambush	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	1 Remaining	conj
10	animals	animal	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 ambushing	obj
11	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	12 drink	nsubj
12	drink	drink	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 animals	acl:relcl
13	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 dragging	punct
14	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	15 dragging	advmod
15	dragging	drag	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	1 Remaining	conj
16	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	15 dragging	obj
17	under	under	ADP	_	15 dragging	obl
18	and	and	CCONJ	_	19 drowning	cc
19	drowning	drown	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	1 Remaining	conj
20	them	they	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	19 drowning	obj
21	in	in	ADP	_	23 river	case
22	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	23 river	det
23	river	river	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 drowning	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	remain	gerund			the water's edge		motionless property	vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at edge=Location
2	ambush	gerund		animals				vn attack-60.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent animal=Patient
3	drink	present	animals					vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
4	drag	gerund		animals = animal		then		vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme
5	drown	gerund		animals = animal	the river			vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Patient

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

Remaining motionless at the water's edge and ambushing animals that drink

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Remaining	remain	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
2	motionless	motionless	ADJ	Degree=Pos	1 Remaining	xcomp
3	at	at	ADP	_	7 edge	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 water	det
5	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 edge	nmod:poss
6	's	's	PART	_	5 water	case
7	edge	edge	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Remaining	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 ambushing	cc
9	ambushing	ambush	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	1 Remaining	conj
10	animals	animal	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 ambushing	obj
11	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	12 drink	nsubj
12	drink	drink	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 animals	acl:relcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	remain	gerund			the water's edge	motionless property	vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at edge=Location
2	ambush	gerund		animals			vn attack-60.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent animal=Patient
3	drink	present	animals				vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: 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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/79-justso-elephants-child-1/e4/