Exam question 2 · Plate tectonics

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a divergent plate boundary such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge?

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

This is exam question 2 of lesson 42 «Plate tectonics» of the geography 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	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 boundary	det
10	divergent	divergent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 boundary	amod
11	plate	plate	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 boundary	compound
12	boundary	boundary	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
13	such	such	ADJ	Degree=Pos ExtPos=ADP	17 Ridge	case
14	as	as	ADP	_	13 such	fixed
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 Ridge	det
16	Mid-Atlantic	Mid-Atlantic	PROPN	Number=Sing	17 Ridge	compound
17	Ridge	Ridge	PROPN	Number=Sing	12 boundary	nmod
18	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund							vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		a divergent plate boundary				of the following statements; such the Mid-Atlantic Ridge; accurately property	tree rules

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

Two continental masses collide and form mountains

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Two	two	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	3 masses	nummod
2	continental	continental	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 masses	amod
3	masses	mass	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 collide	nsubj
4	collide	collide	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
5	and	and	CCONJ	_	6 form	cc
6	form	form	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 collide	conj
7	mountains	mountain	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 form	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	collide	present	Two continental masses						vn bump-18.4-1 «NP V together»: agent=Theme
2	form	present	Two continental masses not said here	mountains					vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location mountain=Theme

Option 2

One plate descends beneath another into a trench

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	One	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	2 plate	nummod
2	plate	plate	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 descends	nsubj
3	descends	descend	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	beneath	beneath	ADP	_	5 another	case
5	another	another	DET	PronType=Ind	3 descends	obl
6	into	into	ADP	_	8 trench	case
7	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 trench	det
8	trench	trench	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 descends	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	descend	present	One plate			a trench		beneath another	vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme into trench=Location

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

Plates separate and ascending magma forms new crust

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Plates	plate	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 separate	nsubj
2	separate	separate	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	and	and	CCONJ	_	6 forms	cc
4	ascending	ascend	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	6 forms	csubj
5	magma	magma	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 ascending	obj
6	forms	form	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 separate	conj
7	new	new	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 crust	amod
8	crust	crust	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 forms	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	separate	present	Plates		vn separate-23.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient
2	ascend	gerund		magma	vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme magma=Trajectory
3	form	present	ascending	new crust	vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location crust=Theme

Option 4

Plates move laterally and crust is neither formed nor destroyed

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Plates	plate	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 move	nsubj
2	move	move	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	laterally	laterally	ADV	_	2 move	advmod
4	and	and	CCONJ	_	8 formed	cc
5	crust	crust	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 formed	nsubj:pass
6	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	8 formed	aux:pass
7	neither	neither	ADV	_	8 formed	advmod
8	formed	form	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 move	conj
9	nor	nor	CCONJ	Polarity=Neg	10 destroyed	cc
10	destroyed	destroy	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 formed	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	move	present	Plates		laterally property	vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme
2	form	present · passive		crust	neither property	vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme
3	destroy	participle				vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: 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.

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