Exam question 2 · Wheels, axles, ramps and screws

Ascertain the principal reason for which mountain roads are constructed in a zigzag pattern.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you · What happens: ascertain, construct · To what, where: principal reason, mountain roads, zigzag pattern

This is exam question 2 of lesson 34 «Wheels, axles, ramps and screws» 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	4 reason	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 reason	amod
4	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
5	for	for	ADP	_	6 which	case
6	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	10 constructed	obl
7	mountain	mountain	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 roads	compound
8	roads	road	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 constructed	nsubj
9	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 constructed	aux:pass
10	constructed	construct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 reason	acl:relcl
11	in	in	ADP	_	14 pattern	case
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 pattern	det
13	zigzag	zigzag	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 pattern	compound
14	pattern	pattern	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 constructed	obl
15	.	.	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 principal reason					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic
2	construct	present · passive		mountain roads		a zigzag pattern		for the principal reason	vn create-26.4 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: subject=Result for which=Beneficiary

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 distance is reduced at the cost of a steeper gradient

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 distance	det
2	distance	distance	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 reduced	nsubj:pass
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 reduced	aux:pass
4	reduced	reduce	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	at	at	ADP	_	7 cost	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 cost	det
7	cost	cost	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 reduced	obl
8	of	of	ADP	_	11 gradient	case
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 gradient	det
10	steeper	steep	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	11 gradient	amod
11	gradient	gradient	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 cost	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	reduce	present · passive		the distance		the cost of a steeper gradient			vn limit-76 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient
2	cost			a steeper gradient					nom cost «possession transitive»: of=patient

Option 2

The rock prevents the construction of straight roads

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 rock	det
2	rock	rock	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 prevents	nsubj
3	prevents	prevent	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 construction	det
5	construction	construction	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 prevents	obj
6	of	of	ADP	_	8 roads	case
7	straight	straight	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 roads	amod
8	roads	road	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 construction	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	prevent	present	the rock	the construction of straight roads					vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer construction=Theme
2	construct			straight roads					nom construction «act transitive»: of=patient

Option 3

Drivers are thereby prevented from sleeping

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Drivers	driver	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 prevented	nsubj:pass
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 prevented	aux:pass
3	thereby	thereby	ADV	_	4 prevented	advmod
4	prevented	prevent	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	from	from	ADP	_	6 sleeping	case
6	sleeping	sleeping	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 prevented	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	prevent	present · passive		Drivers		sleeping		thereby property	vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: subject=Beneficiary from sleeping=Eventuality

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

The gradient is reduced at the cost of a greater distance

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 gradient	det
2	gradient	gradient	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 reduced	nsubj:pass
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 reduced	aux:pass
4	reduced	reduce	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	at	at	ADP	_	7 cost	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 cost	det
7	cost	cost	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 reduced	obl
8	of	of	ADP	_	11 distance	case
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 distance	det
10	greater	great	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	11 distance	amod
11	distance	distance	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 cost	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	reduce	present · passive		the gradient		the cost of a greater distance			vn limit-76 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient
2	cost			a greater distance					nom cost «possession 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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/physics/34-wheels-axles-ramps-and-screws/e2/