Exam question 4 · Flowers, pollination and how seeds travel

Select the response that is consistent with the established facts concerning the dispersal of burdock seeds.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, response, established facts · What happens: select, be, establish, concern, disperse · To what, where: response, dispersal, burdock seeds

This is exam question 4 of lesson 23 «Flowers, pollination and how seeds travel» 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	Select	select	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 response	det
3	response	response	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Select	obj
4	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	6 consistent	nsubj
5	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	6 consistent	cop
6	consistent	consistent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 response	acl:relcl
7	with	with	ADP	_	10 facts	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 facts	det
9	established	establish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	10 facts	amod
10	facts	fact	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 consistent	obl
11	concerning	concern	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	10 facts	acl
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 dispersal	det
13	dispersal	dispersal	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 concerning	obj
14	of	of	ADP	_	16 seeds	case
15	burdock	burdock	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 seeds	compound
16	seeds	seed	NOUN	Number=Plur	13 dispersal	nmod
17	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Select	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	select	imperative	you not said here	the response		vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme
2	is	present	the response		with the established facts; consistent property	tree rules
3	establish	participle				vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot
4	concern	gerund	the established facts not said here	the dispersal of burdock seeds		vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus dispersal=Experiencer
5	disperse			burdock seeds		nom dispersal «act transitive»: of=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

They are conveyed by the wind, being light and furnished with plumes

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 conveyed	nsubj
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 conveyed	aux:pass
3	conveyed	convey	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	ADP	_	6 wind	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 wind	det
6	wind	wind	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 conveyed	obl
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 light	punct
8	being	be	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	9 light	cop
9	light	light	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 conveyed	parataxis
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 furnished	cc
11	furnished	furnish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	9 light	conj
12	with	with	ADP	_	13 plumes	case
13	plumes	plume	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 furnished	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	convey	present · passive	the wind	They		vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent subject=Topic
2	is	gerund			light property	tree rules
3	furnish	participle			with plumes	vn fulfilling-13.4.1-1 «NP V NP-Fulfilling PP.theme»: agent=Agent with plume=Theme

Option 2

They are conveyed by floating upon water

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 conveyed	nsubj
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 conveyed	aux:pass
3	conveyed	convey	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	SCONJ	_	5 floating	mark
5	floating	float	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	3 conveyed	advcl
6	upon	upon	ADP	_	7 water	case
7	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 floating	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	convey	present · passive		They					vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic
2	float	gerund				water			vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme upon water=Trajectory

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

They are conveyed by attachment to the fur of animals

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 conveyed	nsubj
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 conveyed	aux:pass
3	conveyed	convey	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	ADP	_	5 attachment	case
5	attachment	attachment	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 conveyed	obl
6	to	to	ADP	_	8 fur	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 fur	det
8	fur	fur	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 conveyed	obl
9	of	of	ADP	_	10 animals	case
10	animals	animal	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 fur	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	convey	present · passive	attachment	They	the fur of animals				vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent subject=Topic to fur=Recipient

Option 4

They are expelled by a bursting pod

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	They	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 expelled	nsubj
2	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 expelled	aux:pass
3	expelled	expel	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	ADP	_	7 pod	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 pod	det
6	bursting	burst	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	7 pod	amod
7	pod	pod	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 expelled	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	expel	present · passive	a bursting pod	They					vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme
2	burst	gerund							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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