Exam question 2 · Exoplanets and the search for life

Ascertain the method by which the majority of exoplanets have been discovered.

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 4 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, method · What happens: ascertain, discover · To what, where: method, majority

This is exam question 2 of lesson 26 «Exoplanets and the search for life» of the space 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 method	det
3	method	method	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
4	by	by	ADP	_	5 which	case
5	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	12 discovered	obl
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 majority	det
7	majority	majority	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 discovered	nsubj:pass
8	of	of	ADP	_	9 exoplanets	case
9	exoplanets	exoplanet	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 majority	nmod
10	have	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	12 discovered	aux
11	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	12 discovered	aux:pass
12	discovered	discover	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 method	acl:relcl
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 method					vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent method=Topic
2	discover	present · perfect · passive	the method	the majority of exoplanets					vn discover-84-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Topic

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

Direct photography of each planet with large telescopes

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Direct	direct	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 photography	amod
2	photography	photography	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 planet	case
4	each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	5 planet	det
5	planet	planet	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 photography	nmod
6	with	with	ADP	_	8 telescopes	case
7	large	large	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 telescopes	amod
8	telescopes	telescope	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 planet	nmod

The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

Option 2

The detection of artificial radio signals

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 detection	det
2	detection	detection	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	6 signals	case
4	artificial	artificial	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 signals	amod
5	radio	radio	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 signals	compound
6	signals	signal	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 detection	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	detect			artificial radio signals					nom detection «cognition transitive»: of=patient

Option 3

Visits by crewed spacecraft

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Visits	visit	NOUN	Number=Plur	root	root
2	by	by	ADP	_	4 spacecraft	case
3	crewed	crew	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	4 spacecraft	amod
4	spacecraft	spacecraft	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Visits	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	crew	participle							vn captain-29.8-1 «NP V PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent
2	visit		crewed spacecraft						nom visit «act transitive»: by=agent

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

The transit method, a slight dimming of the star

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 method	det
2	transit	transit	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 method	compound
3	method	method	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	,	,	PUNCT	_	7 dimming	punct
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 slight	det
6	slight	slight	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 dimming	obl:unmarked
7	dimming	dim	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	3 method	acl:relcl
8	of	of	ADP	_	10 star	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 star	det
10	star	star	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 dimming	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	dim	gerund	the transit method not said here	a slight				of the star	vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=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/space/26-exoplanets-and-the-search-for-life/e2/