Exam question 3 · Washing, drying, vacuuming and ironing

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the cause of a washing machine moving across the floor during its spin cycle?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: washing machine · What happens: follow, characteris, move, cause · To what, where: cause, floor, washing machine

This is exam question 3 of lesson 12 «Washing, drying, vacuuming and ironing» of the technology 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 cause	det
10	cause	cause	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	14 machine	case
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 machine	det
13	washing	washing	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 machine	compound
14	machine	machine	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 cause	nmod
15	moving	move	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	14 machine	acl
16	across	across	ADP	_	18 floor	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 floor	det
18	floor	floor	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 moving	obl
19	during	during	ADP	_	22 cycle	case
20	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	22 cycle	nmod:poss
21	spin	spin	NOUN	Number=Sing	22 cycle	compound
22	cycle	cycle	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 moving	obl
23	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund						vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the cause of a washing machine			of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	move	gerund	a washing machine not said here		the floor	during floor's spin cycle		vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme across floor=Trajectory
4	cause			a washing machine				nom cause «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 water supplied was excessively cold

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 water	det
2	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 cold	nsubj
3	supplied	supply	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 water	acl
4	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	6 cold	cop
5	excessively	excessively	ADV	_	6 cold	advmod
6	cold	cold	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	supply	participle		the water not said here					vn fulfilling-13.4.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
2	is	past	the water					cold, excessively property	tree rules

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

An uneven distribution of garments unbalances the drum

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	An	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 distribution	det
2	uneven	uneven	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 distribution	amod
3	distribution	distribution	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 unbalances	nsubj
4	of	of	ADP	_	5 garments	case
5	garments	garment	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 distribution	nmod
6	unbalances	unbalance	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 drum	det
8	drum	drum	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 unbalances	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	unbalance	present	a uneven distribution of garments	the drum					tree rules
2	distribute			garments					nom distribution «cognition transitive»: of=patient

Option 3

An insufficient quantity of detergent was used in the wash

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	An	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 quantity	det
2	insufficient	insufficient	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 quantity	amod
3	quantity	quantity	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 used	nsubj:pass
4	of	of	ADP	_	5 detergent	case
5	detergent	detergent	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 quantity	nmod
6	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	7 used	aux:pass
7	used	use	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
8	in	in	ADP	_	10 wash	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 wash	det
10	wash	wash	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 used	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	use	past · passive		a insufficient quantity of detergent		the wash			vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient

Option 4

The machine was installed upon a carpet

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 machine	det
2	machine	machine	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 installed	nsubj:pass
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 installed	aux:pass
4	installed	install	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	upon	upon	ADP	_	7 carpet	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 carpet	det
7	carpet	carpet	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 installed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	install	past · passive		the machine		a carpet			vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme upon carpet=Destination

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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