Exam question 2 · Soap and why washing works
It is given that a free soap bubble invariably assumes a spherical form. Ascertain the principal reason.
Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 2 · right ✓ · Who acts: free soap bubble, you · What happens: give, assume, ascertain · To what, where: It, spherical form, principal reason
This is exam question 2 of lesson 24 «Soap and why washing works» 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
Sentence 1: It is given that a free soap bubble invariably assumes a spherical form.
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | It | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 3 given | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 given | aux:pass |
| 3 | given | give | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 4 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 10 assumes | mark |
| 5 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 8 bubble | det |
| 6 | free | free | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 8 bubble | amod |
| 7 | soap | soap | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 bubble | compound |
| 8 | bubble | bubble | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 assumes | nsubj |
| 9 | invariably | invariably | ADV | _ | 10 assumes | advmod |
| 10 | assumes | assume | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 given | advcl |
| 11 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 13 form | det |
| 12 | spherical | spherical | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 13 form | amod |
| 13 | form | form | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 assumes | obj |
| 14 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 3 given | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | give | present · passive | It | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | |||||
| 2 | assume | present | a free soap bubble | a spherical form | invariably property | vn adopt-93.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent form=Theme |
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.
Sentence 2: Ascertain the principal reason.
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ascertain | ascertain | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 4 reason | det |
| 3 | principal | principal | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 4 reason | amod |
| 4 | reason | reason | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Ascertain | obj |
| 5 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 1 Ascertain | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ascertain | imperative | you not said here | the principal reason | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
The options
Option 1
The mixture is spherical within its container
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 mixture | det |
| 2 | mixture | mixture | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 spherical | nsubj |
| 3 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 spherical | cop |
| 4 | spherical | spherical | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 5 | within | within | ADP | _ | 7 container | case |
| 6 | its | its | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 7 container | nmod:poss |
| 7 | container | container | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 spherical | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | present | the mixture | within mixture's container; spherical property | tree rules |
Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer
A sphere encloses the air with the smallest surface
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 2 sphere | det |
| 2 | sphere | sphere | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 encloses | nsubj |
| 3 | encloses | enclose | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 5 air | det |
| 5 | air | air | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 encloses | obj |
| 6 | with | with | ADP | _ | 9 surface | case |
| 7 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 9 surface | det |
| 8 | smallest | small | ADJ | Degree=Sup | 9 surface | amod |
| 9 | surface | surface | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 encloses | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | enclose | present | a sphere | the air | with the smallest surface | vn contiguous_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme air=Co-Theme |
Option 3
The wind removes the corners of other shapes
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 wind | det |
| 2 | wind | wind | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 removes | nsubj |
| 3 | removes | remove | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 5 corners | det |
| 5 | corners | corner | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 removes | obj |
| 6 | of | of | ADP | _ | 8 shapes | case |
| 7 | other | other | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 8 shapes | amod |
| 8 | shapes | shape | NOUN | Number=Plur | 5 corners | nmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | remove | present | the wind | the corners of other shapes | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent corner=Theme |
Option 4
The air within is heavier at the centre
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 air | det |
| 2 | air | air | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 heavier | nsubj |
| 3 | within | within | ADP | _ | 2 air | nmod |
| 4 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 5 heavier | cop |
| 5 | heavier | heavy | ADJ | Degree=Cmp | root | root |
| 6 | at | at | ADP | _ | 8 centre | case |
| 7 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 8 centre | det |
| 8 | centre | centre | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 heavier | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | present | the air | the centre | heavy property | tree rules |
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/chemistry/24-soap-and-why-washing-works/e2/