Exam question 1 · The candle and what burning is

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the combustion of a candle?

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 1 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: candle · What happens: follow, characteris, combust · To what, where: combustion

This is exam question 1 of lesson 11 «The candle and what burning is» of the chemistry 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 combustion	det
10	combustion	combustion	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 candle	case
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 candle	det
13	candle	candle	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 combustion	nmod
14	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the combustion of a candle	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	combust		a candle			nom combustion «process 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

The vaporised wax combines with oxygen, yielding carbon dioxide and water vapour

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 combines	det
2	vaporised	vaporise	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 combines	amod
3	wax	wax	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 combines	compound
4	combines	combine	NOUN	Number=Plur	root	root
5	with	with	ADP	_	6 oxygen	case
6	oxygen	oxygen	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 combines	nmod
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 yielding	punct
8	yielding	yield	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	4 combines	acl
9	carbon	carbon	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 dioxide	compound
10	dioxide	dioxide	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 yielding	obj
11	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 vapour	cc
12	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 vapour	compound
13	vapour	vapour	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 dioxide	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	vaporise	participle							tree rules
2	yield	gerund	the vaporised wax combines with oxygen not said here	carbon dioxide and water vapour					vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent dioxide=Theme

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice

The flame destroys the atoms of the wax

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 flame	det
2	flame	flame	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 destroys	nsubj
3	destroys	destroy	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 atoms	det
5	atoms	atom	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 destroys	obj
6	of	of	ADP	_	8 wax	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 wax	det
8	wax	wax	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 atoms	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	destroy	present	the flame	the atoms of the wax					vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent atom=Patient

Option 3

The solid wax combines directly with nitrogen

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 wax	det
2	solid	solid	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 wax	amod
3	wax	wax	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 combines	nsubj
4	combines	combine	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
5	directly	directly	ADV	_	4 combines	advmod
6	with	with	ADP	_	7 nitrogen	case
7	nitrogen	nitrogen	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 combines	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	combine	present	the solid wax					with nitrogen; directly property	vn mix-22.1-1-1 «NP V PP.co-patient»: agent=Patient with nitrogen=Co-Patient

Option 4

The cotton wick alone is consumed, the wax remaining wholly intact and merely dripping

The tree, 14 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 wick	det
2	cotton	cotton	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 wick	compound
3	wick	wick	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 consumed	nsubj:pass
4	alone	alone	ADV	_	3 wick	advmod
5	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 consumed	aux:pass
6	consumed	consume	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 wax	punct
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 wax	det
9	wax	wax	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 consumed	obl
10	remaining	remain	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	9 wax	acl
11	wholly	wholly	ADV	_	12 intact	advmod
12	intact	intact	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 remaining	xcomp
13	and	and	CCONJ	_	15 dripping	cc
14	merely	merely	ADV	_	15 dripping	advmod
15	dripping	drip	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	12 intact	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	consume	present · passive		the cotton wick	the wax obl	vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: subject=Asset
2	remain	gerund	the wax not said here		intact property	vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
3	drip	gerund	the wax not said here		merely property	vn substance_emission-43.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Source

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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