Exam question 1 · Bridges and skyscrapers

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the manner in which an arch sustains a load?

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 2 · right ✓ · Who acts: arch · What happens: follow, characteris, sustain · To what, where: manner, load

This is exam question 1 of lesson 30 «Bridges and skyscrapers» 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 manner	det
10	manner	manner	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	in	in	ADP	_	12 which	case
12	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	15 sustains	obl
13	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 arch	det
14	arch	arch	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 sustains	nsubj
15	sustains	sustain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	10 manner	acl:relcl
16	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	17 load	det
17	load	load	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 sustains	obj
18	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund					vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the manner		of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	sustain	present	a arch	a load	the manner		vn sustain-55.6 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent load=Theme

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

Its keystone alone, being of iron, sustains the load

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	2 keystone	nmod:poss
2	keystone	keystone	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 sustains	nsubj
3	alone	alone	ADV	_	2 keystone	advmod
4	,	,	PUNCT	_	7 iron	punct
5	being	be	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	7 iron	cop
6	of	of	ADP	_	7 iron	case
7	iron	iron	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 keystone	conj
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	2 keystone	punct
9	sustains	sustain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 load	det
11	load	load	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 sustains	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	gerund	Its keystone and iron not said here					of iron	tree rules
2	sustain	present	Its keystone and iron	the load					vn sustain-55.6 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent load=Theme

Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

It transmits the load sideways and downwards into its abutments, so that its stones are compressed together

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 transmits	nsubj
2	transmits	transmit	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 load	det
4	load	load	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 transmits	obj
5	sideways	sideways	ADV	_	2 transmits	advmod
6	and	and	CCONJ	_	7 downwards	cc
7	downwards	downwards	ADV	_	5 sideways	conj
8	into	into	ADP	_	10 abutments	case
9	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	10 abutments	nmod:poss
10	abutments	abutment	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 transmits	obl
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	17 compressed	punct
12	so	so	ADV	_	17 compressed	advmod
13	that	that	SCONJ	_	17 compressed	mark
14	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	15 stones	nmod:poss
15	stones	stone	NOUN	Number=Plur	17 compressed	nsubj:pass
16	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	17 compressed	aux:pass
17	compressed	compress	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 transmits	conj
18	together	together	ADV	_	17 compressed	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	transmit	present	It	the load		load's abutments		sideways property	vn send-11.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent load=Theme
2	compress	present · passive		load's stones				together property	vn bend-45.2 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient

Option 3

Its stones are bonded by adhesive of exceptional strength

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	2 stones	nmod:poss
2	stones	stone	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 bonded	nsubj:pass
3	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 bonded	aux:pass
4	bonded	bond	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	by	by	ADP	_	6 adhesive	case
6	adhesive	adhesive	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 bonded	obl
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 strength	case
8	exceptional	exceptional	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 strength	amod
9	strength	strength	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 adhesive	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	bond	present · passive	adhesive of exceptional strength	Its stones					vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient

Option 4

The air beneath the arch supports it from below

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 air	det
2	air	air	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 supports	nsubj
3	beneath	beneath	ADP	_	5 arch	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 arch	det
5	arch	arch	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 air	nmod
6	supports	support	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
7	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	6 supports	obj
8	from	from	ADP	_	9 below	case
9	below	below	ADV	_	6 supports	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	support	present	the air beneath the arch	arch					vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus

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/30-bridges-and-skyscrapers/e1/