Exam question 3 · Space: from Sputnik to the Moon

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the persistence of the footprints left upon the lunar surface?

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · What happens: follow, characteris, leave · To what, where: persistence, footprints, lunar surface

This is exam question 3 of lesson 35 «Space: from Sputnik to the Moon» 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	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 persistence	det
10	persistence	persistence	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 footprints	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 footprints	det
13	footprints	footprint	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 persistence	nmod
14	left	leave	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	13 footprints	acl
15	upon	upon	ADP	_	18 surface	case
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 surface	det
17	lunar	lunar	ADJ	Degree=Pos	18 surface	amod
18	surface	surface	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 left	obl
19	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present	the persistence of the footprints		of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	leave	participle	the footprints not said here	the lunar surface		vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent upon surface=Location

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

They were removed by subsequent missions

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 removed	nsubj:pass
2	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 removed	aux:pass
3	removed	remove	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	ADP	_	6 missions	case
5	subsequent	subsequent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 missions	amod
6	missions	mission	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 removed	obl:agent

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	remove	past · passive	subsequent missions	They					vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme

Option 2

They have been eroded by lunar rainfall and the action of the tides

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	4 eroded	nsubj
2	have	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 eroded	aux
3	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	4 eroded	aux:pass
4	eroded	erode	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	by	by	ADP	_	7 rainfall	case
6	lunar	lunar	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 rainfall	amod
7	rainfall	rainfall	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 eroded	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 action	cc
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 action	det
10	action	action	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 rainfall	conj
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 tides	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 tides	det
13	tides	tide	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 action	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	erode	present · perfect · passive	lunar rainfall and the action of the tides	They					tree rules
2	act		the tides						nom action «act intransitive»: of=agent

Option 3

They were never made

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	4 made	nsubj
2	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 made	aux:pass
3	never	never	ADV	PronType=Neg	4 made	advmod
4	made	make	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	not make	past · passive		They					vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

They endure owing to the absence of wind and rain upon the Moon

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 endure	nsubj
2	endure	endure	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	owing	owe	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	2 endure	xcomp
4	to	to	ADP	_	6 absence	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 absence	det
6	absence	absence	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 owing	obl
7	of	of	ADP	_	8 wind	case
8	wind	wind	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 absence	nmod
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 rain	cc
10	rain	rain	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 wind	conj
11	upon	upon	ADP	_	13 Moon	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 Moon	det
13	Moon	Moon	PROPN	Number=Sing	8 wind	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	endure	present	They			tree rules
2	owe	gerund	They not said here		to the absence of wind upon the Moon and rain goal	vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP PP.goal»: agent=Agent to absence=Goal
3	absent			wind upon the Moon and rain		nom absence «state 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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