Exam question 1 · The Black Death and the end of the Middle Ages

Identify the true agent responsible for the pestilence known as the Black Death.

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 3 · right ✓ · Who acts: you · What happens: identify, know · To what, where: true agent, pestilence

This is exam question 1 of lesson 24 «The Black Death and the end of the Middle Ages» of the history 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	Identify	identify	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 agent	det
3	true	true	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 agent	amod
4	agent	agent	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
5	responsible	responsible	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 agent	amod
6	for	for	ADP	_	8 pestilence	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 pestilence	det
8	pestilence	pestilence	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 responsible	obl
9	known	know	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 pestilence	acl
10	as	as	ADP	_	13 Death	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 Death	det
12	Black	black	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 Death	amod
13	Death	Death	PROPN	Number=Sing	9 known	obl
14	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	the true agent					vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent agent=Theme
2	know	participle		the pestilence not said here				as the Black Death	vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer as death=Attribute

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

Corrupted air arising from the swamps, graveyards and sewers

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Corrupted	corrupt	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 air	amod
2	air	air	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	arising	arise	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	2 air	acl
4	from	from	ADP	_	6 swamps	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 swamps	det
6	swamps	swamp	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 arising	obl
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 graveyards	punct
8	graveyards	graveyard	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 swamps	conj
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 sewers	cc
10	sewers	sewer	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 swamps	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	corrupt	participle							vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient
2	arise	gerund	Corrupted air not said here			the swamps and graveyards and sewers			vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 2

An unfavourable alignment of the planets

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	An	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 alignment	det
2	unfavourable	unfavourable	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 alignment	amod
3	alignment	alignment	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 planets	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 planets	det
6	planets	planet	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 alignment	nmod

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

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

A germ conveyed by fleas upon rats and other animals

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 germ	det
2	germ	germ	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	conveyed	convey	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 germ	acl
4	by	by	ADP	_	5 fleas	case
5	fleas	flea	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 conveyed	obl
6	upon	upon	ADP	_	7 rats	case
7	rats	rat	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 conveyed	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 animals	cc
9	other	other	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 animals	amod
10	animals	animal	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 rats	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	convey	participle		a germ not said here				by fleas; upon rats and other animals	vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent

Option 4

The consumption of spoiled grain alone

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 consumption	det
2	consumption	consumption	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 grain	case
4	spoiled	spoil	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 grain	amod
5	grain	grain	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 consumption	nmod
6	alone	alone	ADV	_	5 grain	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	spoil	participle							vn entity_specific_cos-45.5 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient
2	consume			spoiled grain					nom consumption «act 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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