Exam question 4 · Why time flies and why it drags

Identify one proposed explanation for the perception that years pass more swiftly with advancing age.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: you, years · What happens: identify, propose, pass, advance · To what, where: one proposed explanation, perception, age

This is exam question 4 of lesson 110 «Why time flies and why it drags» of the world 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	Identify	identify	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	one	one	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	4 explanation	nummod
3	proposed	propose	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 explanation	amod
4	explanation	explanation	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
5	for	for	ADP	_	7 perception	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 perception	det
7	perception	perception	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 explanation	nmod
8	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	10 pass	obj
9	years	year	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 pass	nsubj
10	pass	pass	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	7 perception	acl:relcl
11	more	more	ADV	Degree=Cmp	12 swiftly	advmod
12	swiftly	swiftly	ADV	_	10 pass	advmod
13	with	with	SCONJ	_	14 advancing	mark
14	advancing	advance	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	10 pass	advcl
15	age	age	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 advancing	obj
16	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	one proposed explanation	for the perception	vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent explanation=Theme
2	propose	participle				vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent
3	pass	present	years	the perception	swiftly property	vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme that=Trajectory
4	advance	gerund	years not said here	age		vn caused_calibratable_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Causer age=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

Each year constitutes a smaller fraction of the life already lived

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	2 year	det
2	year	year	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 constitutes	nsubj
3	constitutes	constitute	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 fraction	det
5	smaller	small	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	6 fraction	amod
6	fraction	fraction	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 lived	nsubj
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 life	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 life	det
9	life	life	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 fraction	nmod
10	already	already	ADV	_	11 lived	advmod
11	lived	live	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 constitutes	ccomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	constitute	present	each year						tree rules
2	live	past	a smaller fraction of the life						vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 2

The calendar removes days for persons over seventy

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 calendar	det
2	calendar	calendar	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 removes	nsubj
3	removes	remove	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	days	day	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 removes	obj
5	for	for	ADP	_	6 persons	case
6	persons	person	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 removes	obl
7	over	over	ADV	_	8 seventy	advmod
8	seventy	seventy	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	3 removes	parataxis

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	remove	present	the calendar				day	for persons	vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

Option 3

The clocks of older persons operate more rapidly

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 clocks	det
2	clocks	clock	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 operate	nsubj
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 persons	case
4	older	old	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	5 persons	amod
5	persons	person	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 clocks	nmod
6	operate	operate	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
7	more	more	ADV	Degree=Cmp	8 rapidly	advmod
8	rapidly	rapidly	ADV	_	6 operate	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	operate	present	the clocks of older persons					rapidly property	vn function-105.2.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

Option 4

The Earth's orbit grows shorter with each decade

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 Earth	det
2	Earth	Earth	PROPN	Number=Sing	4 orbit	nmod:poss
3	's	's	PART	_	2 Earth	case
4	orbit	orbit	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 grows	nsubj
5	grows	grow	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
6	shorter	short	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	5 grows	xcomp
7	with	with	ADP	_	9 decade	case
8	each	each	DET	PronType=Tot	9 decade	det
9	decade	decade	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 grows	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	grow	present	the Earth's orbit				decade	short property	vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=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.

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