Exam question 4 · Lifting and carrying heavy things

Whereas a load must be turned through ninety degrees whilst being held, determine the method that best protects the back.

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: method · What happens: turn, hold, determine, protect · To what, where: ninety degrees, method, back

This is exam question 4 of lesson 3 «Lifting and carrying heavy things» of the everyday 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	Whereas	whereas	SCONJ	_	3 load	case
2	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 load	det
3	load	load	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 turned	obl
4	must	must	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	6 turned	aux
5	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	6 turned	aux:pass
6	turned	turn	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
7	through	through	ADP	_	9 degrees	case
8	ninety	ninety	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 degrees	compound
9	degrees	degree	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 turned	obl
10	whilst	whilst	SCONJ	_	12 held	mark
11	being	be	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	12 held	aux:pass
12	held	hold	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	14 determine	advcl
13	,	,	PUNCT	_	12 held	punct
14	determine	determine	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	6 turned	parataxis
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 method	det
16	method	method	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 determine	obj
17	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	19 protects	nsubj
18	best	good	ADJ	Degree=Sup	19 protects	amod
19	protects	protect	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	16 method	acl:relcl
20	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	21 back	det
21	back	back	NOUN	Number=Sing	19 protects	obj
22	.	.	PUNCT	_	6 turned	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	turn	must · passive			ninety degrees	whereas a load	vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: through degree=Trajectory
2	hold	gerund · passive					vn exist-47.1 «NP V»
3	determine	infinitive		the method			vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent method=Topic
4	protect	present	the method	the back			vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent back=Beneficiary

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 bending sideways from the waist

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 bending	det
2	bending	bending	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	sideways	sideways	ADV	_	2 bending	advmod
4	from	from	ADP	_	6 waist	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 waist	det
6	waist	waist	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 bending	nmod

The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice

The twisting of the back whilst the feet remain still

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 twisting	det
2	twisting	twisting	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 remain	nsubj
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 back	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 back	det
5	back	back	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 twisting	nmod
6	whilst	whilst	SCONJ	_	8 feet	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 feet	det
8	feet	foot	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 back	nmod
9	remain	remain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
10	still	still	ADV	_	9 remain	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	remain	present	the twisting of the back whilst the feet				still		vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	twist			the back whilst the feet					nom twisting «act transitive»: of=patient

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

The turning of the whole body by means of the feet

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 turning	det
2	turning	turning	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 means	nsubj
3	of	of	ADP	_	6 body	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 body	det
5	whole	whole	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 body	amod
6	body	body	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 turning	nmod
7	by	by	ADP	_	8 means	case
8	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
9	of	of	ADP	_	11 feet	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 feet	det
11	feet	foot	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 means	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	mean	present	the turning of the whole body					of the feet	vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent
2	turn		the whole body						nom turning «act intransitive»: of=agent

Option 4

The swinging of the load at arm's length

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 swinging	det
2	swinging	swinging	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 load	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 load	det
5	load	load	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 swinging	nmod
6	at	at	ADP	_	9 length	case
7	arm	arm	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 length	nmod:poss
8	's	's	PART	_	7 arm	case
9	length	length	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 swinging	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	swing		the load			arm's length			nom swinging «act intransitive»: of=agent at=place

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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