Exam question 4 · Static electricity: balloons, hair and sparks

Ascertain the function of a lightning conductor affixed to a tall building.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you · What happens: ascertain, affix · To what, where: function, lightning conductor

This is exam question 4 of lesson 26 «Static electricity: balloons, hair and sparks» 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	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 function	det
3	function	function	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
4	of	of	ADP	_	7 conductor	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 conductor	det
6	lightning	lightning	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 conductor	compound
7	conductor	conductor	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 function	nmod
8	affixed	affix	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	7 conductor	acl
9	to	to	ADP	_	12 building	case
10	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 building	det
11	tall	tall	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 building	amod
12	building	building	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 affixed	obl
13	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the function of a lightning conductor					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent function=Topic
2	affix	participle		a lightning conductor not said here				to a tall building	vn tape-22.4 «NP V ADV-Middle PP»: agent=Patient to building=Co-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

To amplify the discharge in order to protect adjacent buildings

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	To	to	PART	_	2 amplify	mark
2	amplify	amplify	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 discharge	det
4	discharge	discharge	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 amplify	obj
5	in	in	ADP	_	6 order	case
6	order	order	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 amplify	obl
7	to	to	PART	_	8 protect	mark
8	protect	protect	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 amplify	advcl
9	adjacent	adjacent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 buildings	amod
10	buildings	building	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 protect	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	amplify	to-infinitive		the discharge		order			vn other_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent discharge=Patient
2	protect	to-infinitive		adjacent buildings					vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent building=Beneficiary

Option 2

To repel thunderclouds from the vicinity

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	To	to	PART	_	2 repel	mark
2	repel	repel	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	thunderclouds	thundercloud	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 repel	obj
4	from	from	ADP	_	6 vicinity	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 vicinity	det
6	vicinity	vicinity	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 repel	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	repel	to-infinitive		thunderclouds		the vicinity			vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus thundercloud=Experiencer

Option 3

To attract a greater number of discharges for storage

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	To	to	PART	_	2 attract	mark
2	attract	attract	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 number	det
4	greater	great	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	5 number	amod
5	number	number	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 attract	obj
6	of	of	ADP	_	7 discharges	case
7	discharges	discharge	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 number	nmod
8	for	for	ADP	_	9 storage	case
9	storage	storage	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 attract	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	attract	to-infinitive		a greater number of discharges				for storage	vn lure-59.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent number=Patient

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

To provide a path of low resistance whereby the discharge is conveyed safely to earth

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	To	to	PART	_	2 provide	mark
2	provide	provide	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 path	det
4	path	path	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 provide	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	7 resistance	case
6	low	low	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 resistance	amod
7	resistance	resistance	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 path	nmod
8	whereby	whereby	ADV	PronType=Int	12 conveyed	advmod
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 discharge	det
10	discharge	discharge	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 conveyed	nsubj:pass
11	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	12 conveyed	aux:pass
12	conveyed	convey	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 path	acl
13	safely	safely	ADV	_	12 conveyed	advmod
14	to	to	ADP	_	15 earth	case
15	earth	earth	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 conveyed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	provide	to-infinitive		a path of low resistance					vn ensure-99 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition path=Theme
2	convey	present · passive		the discharge	earth			safely, whereby property	vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: subject=Topic to earth=Recipient

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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