Exam question 3 · Airports, the black box, helicopters and drones

Ascertain the means whereby the pilot of a hot-air balloon may alter the direction of travel.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, the, pilot · What happens: ascertain, mean, alter · To what, where: direction · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 3 of lesson 23 «Airports, the black box, helicopters and drones» 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	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 means	nsubj
3	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	1 Ascertain	ccomp
4	whereby	whereby	ADV	PronType=Int	14 alter	advmod
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 pilot	det
6	pilot	pilot	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 alter	nsubj
7	of	of	ADP	_	12 balloon	case
8	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 balloon	det
9	hot	hot	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 air	amod
10	-	-	PUNCT	_	9 hot	punct
11	air	air	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 balloon	compound
12	balloon	balloon	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 pilot	nmod
13	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	14 alter	aux
14	alter	alter	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	3 means	ccomp
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 direction	det
16	direction	direction	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 alter	obj
17	of	of	ADP	_	18 travel	case
18	travel	travel	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 direction	nmod
19	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here			vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
2	mean	present	the			vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
3	alter	may	the pilot of a air balloon	the direction of travel	whereby property	vn other_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent direction=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 right answer

By ascending or descending in order to encounter winds blowing in other directions

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	SCONJ	_	2 ascending	mark
2	ascending	ascend	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
3	or	or	CCONJ	_	4 descending	cc
4	descending	descend	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 ascending	conj
5	in	in	ADP	_	6 order	case
6	order	order	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 descending	obl
7	to	to	PART	_	8 encounter	mark
8	encounter	encounter	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 ascending	advcl
9	winds	wind	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 encounter	obj
10	blowing	blow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	9 winds	acl
11	in	in	ADP	_	13 directions	case
12	other	other	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 directions	amod
13	directions	direction	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 blowing	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	ascend	gerund				vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	descend	gerund			order	vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
3	encounter	to-infinitive		winds		vn encounter-30.5 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer wind=Stimulus
4	blow	gerund	winds not said here		other directions	vn split-23.2 «NP V apart»: agent=Patient

Option 2

By rowing with oars against the air

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	SCONJ	_	2 rowing	mark
2	rowing	row	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
3	with	with	ADP	_	4 oars	case
4	oars	oar	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 rowing	obl
5	against	against	ADP	_	7 air	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 air	det
7	air	air	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 rowing	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	row	gerund						with oars; against the air	vn nonvehicle-51.4.2 «NP.agent V»: agent=Agent

Option 3

By the operation of a rudder affixed to the basket and turned by means of a wheel

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	ADP	_	3 operation	case
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 operation	det
3	operation	operation	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 means	obl
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 rudder	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 rudder	det
6	rudder	rudder	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 operation	nmod
7	affixed	affix	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 rudder	acl
8	to	to	ADP	_	10 basket	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 basket	det
10	basket	basket	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 affixed	obl
11	and	and	CCONJ	_	12 turned	cc
12	turned	turn	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	7 affixed	conj
13	by	by	ADP	_	12 turned	obl
14	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
15	of	of	ADP	_	17 wheel	case
16	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	17 wheel	det
17	wheel	wheel	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 means	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	other	roles by
1	affix	participle	a rudder not said here	to the basket	vn tape-22.4 «NP V ADV-Middle PP»: agent=Patient to basket=Co-Patient
2	turn	participle			vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme
3	mean	present		by the operation of a rudder; of a wheel	vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent
4	operate		a rudder		nom operation «state transitive»: of=patient

Option 4

By directing the burner horizontally

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	SCONJ	_	2 directing	mark
2	directing	direct	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 burner	det
4	burner	burner	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 directing	obj
5	horizontally	horizontally	ADV	_	2 directing	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	direct	gerund		the burner				horizontally property	vn supervision-95.2.2-1 «NP V NP.predicate»: agent=Agent burner=Eventuality

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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