Exam question 4 · Clocks before clocks: sundials, water clocks, candles and…

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the clock constructed in 1088 by Su Song?

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 1 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris, construct · To what, where: clock, 1088

This is exam question 4 of lesson 122 «Clocks before clocks: sundials, water clocks, candles and hourglasses» 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	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 clock	det
10	clock	clock	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	constructed	construct	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	10 clock	acl
12	in	in	ADP	_	13 1088	case
13	1088	1088	NUM	NumForm=Digit NumType=Card	11 constructed	obl
14	by	by	ADP	_	16 Song	case
15	Su	Su	PROPN	Number=Sing	16 Song	compound
16	Song	song	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 constructed	obl
17	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present	the clock		of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	construct	participle	the clock not said here	1088	by Su Song	vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

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 · ✓ the right answer

A water-powered tower exceeding ten metres, displaying the motion of the stars

The tree, 13 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 tower	det
2	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 powered	compound
3	-	-	PUNCT	_	2 water	punct
4	powered	power	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 tower	amod
5	tower	tower	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	exceeding	exceed	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 tower	acl
7	ten	ten	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	8 metres	nummod
8	metres	metre	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 exceeding	obj
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 displaying	punct
10	displaying	display	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	6 exceeding	conj
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 motion	det
12	motion	motion	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 displaying	obj
13	of	of	ADP	_	15 stars	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 stars	det
15	stars	star	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 motion	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	power	participle			tree rules
2	exceed	gerund	a powered tower not said here	ten metres	vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot metre=Theme
3	display	gerund	a powered tower not said here	the motion of the stars	vn reflexive_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent motion=Theme
4	motion		the stars		nom motion «communication intransitive»: of=agent

Option 2

A sundial carved upon the wall of a palace

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 sundial	det
2	sundial	sundial	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	carved	carve	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	2 sundial	acl
4	upon	upon	ADP	_	6 wall	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 wall	det
6	wall	wall	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 carved	obl
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 palace	case
8	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	9 palace	det
9	palace	palace	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 wall	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	carve	participle		a sundial not said here				upon the wall of a palace	vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice

A pendulum clock of small dimensions for domestic use

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 clock	det
2	pendulum	pendulum	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 clock	compound
3	clock	clock	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 dimensions	case
5	small	small	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 dimensions	amod
6	dimensions	dimension	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 clock	nmod
7	for	for	ADP	_	9 use	case
8	domestic	domestic	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 use	amod
9	use	use	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 dimensions	nmod

The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

Option 4

A candle clock enclosed within a lantern

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 clock	det
2	candle	candle	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 clock	compound
3	clock	clock	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	enclosed	enclose	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 clock	acl
5	within	within	ADP	_	7 lantern	case
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 lantern	det
7	lantern	lantern	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 enclosed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	enclose	participle		a candle clock not said here				within a lantern	vn contiguous_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: 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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/122-clocks-before-clocks/e4/