Exam question 3 · Wild animals and tall tales

It is given that a widely viewed documentary depicted lemmings leaping from a cliff in large numbers. Select the response consistent with the established facts.

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: depicted lemmings, you · What happens: give, view, depict, leap, select, establish · To what, where: It, cliff, response

This is exam question 3 of lesson 8 «Wild animals and tall tales» 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

Sentence 1: It is given that a widely viewed documentary depicted lemmings leaping from a cliff in large numbers.

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 given	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 given	aux:pass
3	given	give	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	that	that	SCONJ	_	8 documentary	mark
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	8 documentary	det
6	widely	widely	ADV	_	7 viewed	advmod
7	viewed	view	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 documentary	amod
8	documentary	documentary	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 given	advcl
9	depicted	depict	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	10 lemmings	amod
10	lemmings	lemming	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 documentary	conj
11	leaping	leap	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	10 lemmings	acl
12	from	from	ADP	_	14 cliff	case
13	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 cliff	det
14	cliff	cliff	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 leaping	obl
15	in	in	ADP	_	17 numbers	case
16	large	large	ADJ	Degree=Pos	17 numbers	amod
17	numbers	number	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 leaping	obl
18	.	.	PUNCT	_	3 given	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	give	present · passive		It			vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
2	view	participle				widely property	vn characterize-29.2-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent
3	depict	participle					vn characterize-29.2 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent
4	leap	gerund	depicted lemmings not said here		a cliff	in large numbers	vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme from cliff=Trajectory

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.

Sentence 2: Select the response consistent with the established facts.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Select	select	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 response	det
3	response	response	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Select	obj
4	consistent	consistent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 response	amod
5	with	with	ADP	_	8 facts	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 facts	det
7	established	establish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 facts	amod
8	facts	fact	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 consistent	obl
9	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Select	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	select	imperative	you not said here	the response					vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme
2	establish	participle							vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot

The options

Option 1

The scene depicted a species other than lemmings

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 scene	det
2	scene	scene	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 depicted	nsubj
3	depicted	depict	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 species	det
5	species	species	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 depicted	obj
6	other	other	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 species	amod
7	than	than	ADP	_	8 lemmings	case
8	lemmings	lemming	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 depicted	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	depict	past	the scene	a species				than lemmings	vn characterize-29.2 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent species=Theme

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

The scene was staged by the film-makers, the lemmings having been forced

The tree, 13 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 scene	det
2	scene	scene	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 staged	nsubj:pass
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 staged	aux:pass
4	staged	stage	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	by	by	ADP	_	9 makers	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 makers	det
7	film	film	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 makers	compound
8	-	-	PUNCT	_	7 film	punct
9	makers	maker	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 staged	obl
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	12 lemmings	punct
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 lemmings	det
12	lemmings	lemming	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 makers	conj
13	having	have	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	12 lemmings	acl
14	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	15 forced	aux:pass
15	forced	force	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	13 having	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	stage	past · passive	the film makers and the lemmings	the scene	vn performance-26.7-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme
2	have	gerund	the lemmings not said here		tree rules
3	force	participle · passive	the lemmings not said here		vn urge-58.1-1 «NP V NP»

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice

The film recorded a regular annual event in which lemmings jump from cliffs

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 film	det
2	film	film	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 recorded	nsubj
3	recorded	record	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 event	det
5	regular	regular	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 event	amod
6	annual	annual	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 event	amod
7	event	event	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 recorded	obj
8	in	in	ADP	_	9 which	case
9	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	11 jump	obl
10	lemmings	lemming	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 jump	nsubj
11	jump	jump	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 event	acl:relcl
12	from	from	ADP	_	13 cliffs	case
13	cliffs	cliff	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 jump	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	record	past	the film	a regular annual event					vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent event=Theme
2	jump	present	lemmings			a regular annual event		from cliffs	vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in which=Trajectory

Option 4

The lemmings were attempting to reach the sea to feed

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 lemmings	det
2	lemmings	lemming	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 attempting	nsubj
3	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 attempting	aux
4	attempting	attempt	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
5	to	to	PART	_	6 reach	mark
6	reach	reach	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 attempting	xcomp
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 sea	det
8	sea	sea	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 reach	obj
9	to	to	PART	_	10 feed	mark
10	feed	feed	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	6 reach	advcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	attempt	past · progressive	the lemmings		vn try-61.1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality
2	reach not said to happen	to-infinitive	the lemmings not said here	the sea	vn body_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent sea=Theme
3	feed	to-infinitive	the lemmings not said here		vn gorge-39.6 «NP V PP.patient»: 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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/myths/8-wild-animals-and-tall-tales/e3/