Exam question 1 · Colds, coughs and the weather

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the cause of the common cold?

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · What happens: follow, characteris, cause · To what, where: cause, common cold

This is exam question 1 of lesson 4 «Colds, coughs and the weather» of the myths 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 cause	det
10	cause	cause	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	14 cold	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 cold	det
13	common	common	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 cold	amod
14	cold	cold	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 cause	nmod
15	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund			vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present	the cause of the common cold	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	cause		the common cold		nom cause «event transitive»: of=patient

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

It is caused by insufficient consumption of vitamin C

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 caused	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 caused	aux:pass
3	caused	cause	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	ADP	_	6 consumption	case
5	insufficient	insufficient	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 consumption	amod
6	consumption	consumption	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 caused	obl
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 C	case
8	vitamin	vitamin	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 C	compound
9	C	c	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 consumption	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	cause	present · passive	insufficient consumption of vitamin C	It					vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition subject=Patient
2	consume			vitamin C					nom consumption «act transitive»: of=patient

Option 2

It is caused by exposure of the body to low temperatures

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 caused	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 caused	aux:pass
3	caused	cause	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	ADP	_	5 exposure	case
5	exposure	exposure	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 caused	obl:agent
6	of	of	ADP	_	8 body	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 body	det
8	body	body	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 exposure	nmod
9	to	to	PART	_	10 low	mark
10	low	low	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 temperatures	amod
11	temperatures	temperature	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 caused	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	cause	present · passive	exposure of the body	It					vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Causer subject=Theme temperature=Eventuality

Option 3

It is caused by going out of doors with damp hair

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 caused	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 caused	aux:pass
3	caused	cause	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	SCONJ	_	5 going	mark
5	going	go	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	3 caused	advcl
6	out	out	ADP	_	8 doors	case
7	of	of	ADP	_	8 doors	case
8	doors	door	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 going	obl
9	with	with	ADP	_	11 hair	case
10	damp	damp	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 hair	amod
11	hair	hair	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 going	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	cause	present · passive		It					vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient
2	go out	gerund		doors				with damp hair	tree rules

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

It is caused by viruses transmitted between persons

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 caused	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 caused	aux:pass
3	caused	cause	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	ADP	_	5 viruses	case
5	viruses	virus	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 caused	obl
6	transmitted	transmit	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 viruses	acl
7	between	between	ADP	_	8 persons	case
8	persons	person	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 transmitted	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	cause	present · passive	viruses	It					vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition subject=Patient
2	transmit	participle		viruses not said here				between persons	vn send-11.1-1 «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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