Exam question 3 · Thunder, sirens and how fast sound travels

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the alteration of the pitch of a passing siren?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · What happens: follow, characteris, pass, alter · To what, where: alteration, pitch

This is exam question 3 of lesson 18 «Thunder, sirens and how fast sound travels» of the physics 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 alteration	det
10	alteration	alteration	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 pitch	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 pitch	det
13	pitch	pitch	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 alteration	nmod
14	of	of	ADP	_	17 siren	case
15	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	17 siren	det
16	passing	pass	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	17 siren	amod
17	siren	siren	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 pitch	nmod
18	?	?	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 alteration of the pitch of a passing siren	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	pass	gerund			vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
4	alter		the pitch of a passing siren		nom alteration «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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

The pitch rises upon approach and falls upon recession

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 pitch	det
2	pitch	pitch	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 rises	nsubj
3	rises	rise	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	upon	upon	ADP	_	5 approach	case
5	approach	approach	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 rises	obl
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	7 falls	cc
7	falls	fall	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 rises	conj
8	upon	upon	ADP	_	9 recession	case
9	recession	recession	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 falls	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	rise	present	the pitch			approach			vn assuming_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent upon approach=Location
2	fall	present	the pitch not said here			recession			vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme upon recession=Location

Option 2

The pitch is determined solely by the volume

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 pitch	det
2	pitch	pitch	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 determined	nsubj:pass
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 determined	aux:pass
4	determined	determine	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	solely	solely	ADV	_	4 determined	advmod
6	by	by	ADP	_	8 volume	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 volume	det
8	volume	volume	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 determined	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	determine	present · passive	the volume	the pitch				solely property	vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Topic

Option 3

The pitch remains constant throughout

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 pitch	det
2	pitch	pitch	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 remains	nsubj
3	remains	remain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	constant	constant	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 remains	xcomp
5	throughout	throughout	PUNCT	_	3 remains	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	remain	present	the pitch					constant property	vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 4

The pitch falls upon approach and rises upon recession

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 pitch	det
2	pitch	pitch	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 falls	nsubj
3	falls	fall	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	upon	upon	ADP	_	5 approach	case
5	approach	approach	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 falls	obl
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	7 rises	cc
7	rises	rise	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 falls	conj
8	upon	upon	ADP	_	9 recession	case
9	recession	recession	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 rises	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	fall	present	the pitch			approach			vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme upon approach=Location
2	rise	present	the pitch not said here			recession			vn assuming_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent upon recession=Location

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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