Test 1 · Trains and the Underground
In a cartoon, a train swerves round a cow standing on the line. What is wrong?
Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 2 · right ✓ · Who acts: train, cow · What happens: swerve, stand, be · To what, where: cartoon, line
This is test 1 of lesson 21 «Trains and the Underground» of the technology course of Mova's primary school. 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
Sentence 1: In a cartoon, a train swerves round a cow standing on the line.
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | In | in | ADP | _ | 3 cartoon | case |
| 2 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 cartoon | det |
| 3 | cartoon | cartoon | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 swerves | obl |
| 4 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 3 cartoon | punct |
| 5 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 6 train | det |
| 6 | train | train | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 swerves | nsubj |
| 7 | swerves | swerve | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 8 | round | round | ADP | _ | 10 cow | case |
| 9 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 10 cow | det |
| 10 | cow | cow | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 swerves | obl |
| 11 | standing | stand | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 10 cow | acl |
| 12 | on | on | ADP | _ | 14 line | case |
| 13 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 14 line | det |
| 14 | line | line | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 standing | obl |
| 15 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 7 swerves | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | swerve | present | a train | a cartoon | round a cow | vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme round cow=Location | |||
| 2 | stand | gerund | a cow not said here | the line | vn assuming_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent on line=Location |
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.
Sentence 2: What is wrong?
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | What | what | PRON | PronType=Int | 3 wrong | nsubj |
| 2 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 wrong | cop |
| 3 | wrong | wrong | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 4 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 3 wrong | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | present | wrong property | tree rules |
The options
Option 1
Only the driver's cab can swerve, not the carriages
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Only | only | ADV | _ | 5 cab | advmod |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 driver | det |
| 3 | driver | driver | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 cab | nmod:poss |
| 4 | 's | 's | PART | _ | 3 driver | case |
| 5 | cab | cab | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 swerve | nsubj |
| 6 | can | can | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 7 swerve | aux |
| 7 | swerve | swerve | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | root | root |
| 8 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 11 carriages | punct |
| 9 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 11 carriages | advmod |
| 10 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 11 carriages | det |
| 11 | carriages | carriage | NOUN | Number=Plur | 7 swerve | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | swerve | can | the driver's cab | the carriages | vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer
A train can't swerve, because the rails steer it
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 2 train | det |
| 2 | train | train | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 swerve | nsubj |
| 3 | ca | can | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 5 swerve | aux |
| 4 | n't | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 5 swerve | advmod |
| 5 | swerve | swerve | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | root | root |
| 6 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 10 steer | punct |
| 7 | because | because | SCONJ | _ | 10 steer | mark |
| 8 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 9 rails | det |
| 9 | rails | rail | NOUN | Number=Plur | 10 steer | nsubj |
| 10 | steer | steer | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 5 swerve | conj |
| 11 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 10 steer | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | not swerve | can | a train | vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||||
| 2 | steer | present | the rails | train | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
Option 3
Trains swerve only when they go slowly
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trains | train | NOUN | Number=Plur | 2 swerve | nsubj |
| 2 | swerve | swerve | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | only | only | ADV | _ | 6 go | advmod |
| 4 | when | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 6 go | advmod |
| 5 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 6 go | nsubj |
| 6 | go | go | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 2 swerve | advcl |
| 7 | slowly | slowly | ADV | _ | 6 go | advmod |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | swerve | present | Trains | vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||||
| 2 | go | present | Trains = train | slowly property | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
Option 4
Nothing, trains steer round things all the time
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nothing | nothing | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Neg | 3 trains | compound |
| 2 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 1 Nothing | punct |
| 3 | trains | train | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 steer | nsubj |
| 4 | steer | steer | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 5 | round | round | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 6 things | amod |
| 6 | things | thing | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 steer | obj |
| 7 | all | all | DET | PronType=Tot | 9 time | det:predet |
| 8 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 9 time | det |
| 9 | time | time | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 steer | obl:unmarked |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | steer | present | Nothing trains | round things | time | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thing=Theme |
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/technology/21-trains-and-the-underground/t1/