Exam question 4 · Just So Stories, The Butterfly that Stamped, part 2: the B…

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the expression «a just-so story» as employed by scientists?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris, employ · To what, where: expression

This is exam question 4 of lesson 97 «Just So Stories, The Butterfly that Stamped, part 2: the Butterfly stamps, Balkis is wise, and the book ends» 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	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	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 expression	det
10	expression	expression	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	«	«	PUNCT	_	16 story	punct
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	16 story	det
13	just	just	ADV	_	16 story	advmod
14	-	-	PUNCT	_	13 just	punct
15	so	so	ADV	_	16 story	advmod
16	story	story	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 expression	appos
17	»	»	PUNCT	_	16 story	punct
18	as	as	SCONJ	_	19 employed	mark
19	employed	employ	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 characterises	advcl
20	by	by	ADP	_	21 scientists	case
21	scientists	scientist	NOUN	Number=Plur	19 employed	obl
22	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund			vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present	the expression	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	employ	participle		by scientists	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 · ← Mova's choice

A well-known theory that has been proven by all scientists

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 theory	det
2	well	well	ADV	Degree=Pos	4 known	advmod
3	-	-	PUNCT	_	2 well	punct
4	known	know	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 theory	amod
5	theory	theory	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	9 proven	nsubj:pass
7	has	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	9 proven	aux
8	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	9 proven	aux:pass
9	proven	prove	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 theory	acl:relcl
10	by	by	ADP	_	12 scientists	case
11	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	12 scientists	det
12	scientists	scientist	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 proven	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	know	participle						well property	vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer
2	prove	present · perfect · passive	all scientists	a known theory					vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme

Option 2

An explanation that is charming and has been tested by many scientists over many years

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	An	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 explanation	det
2	explanation	explanation	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 tested	nsubj:pass
3	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	5 charming	nsubj
4	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 charming	aux
5	charming	charm	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 explanation	acl:relcl
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	5 charming	cc
7	has	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	9 tested	aux
8	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	9 tested	aux:pass
9	tested	test	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
10	by	by	ADP	_	12 scientists	case
11	many	many	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 scientists	amod
12	scientists	scientist	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 tested	obl
13	over	over	ADP	_	15 years	case
14	many	many	ADJ	Degree=Pos	15 years	amod
15	years	year	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 tested	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	charm	present · progressive	a explanation						vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer
2	test	present · perfect · passive	many scientists	a explanation			year		vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

An attractive explanation lacking supporting evidence

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	An	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 explanation	det
2	attractive	attractive	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 explanation	amod
3	explanation	explanation	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	lacking	lack	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	3 explanation	acl
5	supporting	supporting	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 evidence	compound
6	evidence	evidence	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 lacking	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	lack	gerund	a attractive explanation not said here	supporting evidence					tree rules

Option 4

A pretty tale for children that scientists have been using, with no proof, since the start of the modern world

The tree, 20 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 tale	det
2	pretty	pretty	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 tale	amod
3	tale	tale	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 using	obj
4	for	for	ADP	_	5 children	case
5	children	child	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 tale	nmod
6	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	7 scientists	det
7	scientists	scientist	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 children	conj
8	have	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 using	aux
9	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	10 using	aux
10	using	use	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 proof	punct
12	with	with	ADP	_	14 proof	case
13	no	no	DET	PronType=Neg	14 proof	det
14	proof	proof	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 using	conj
15	,	,	PUNCT	_	18 start	punct
16	since	since	ADP	_	18 start	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 start	det
18	start	start	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 using	obl
19	of	of	ADP	_	22 world	case
20	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	22 world	det
21	modern	modern	ADJ	Degree=Pos	22 world	amod
22	world	world	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 start	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	use	present · perfect · progressive		a pretty tale			since the start of the modern world	for children and that scientists	vn use-105.1 «NP V NP PP.predicate»: agent=Agent tale=Theme for child=Eventuality
2	start			the modern world					nom start «event 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.

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