Exam question 3 · Canals: Suez, Panama and the shortcuts

Ascertain the principal reason for which the French attempt of the 1880s to construct a canal across Panama was abandoned.

Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 2 · right ✓ · Who acts: you · What happens: ascertain, construct, abandon, attempt · To what, where: principal reason, canal, Panama, French attempt, 1880s

This is exam question 3 of lesson 20 «Canals: Suez, Panama and the shortcuts» of the geography 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	4 reason	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 reason	amod
4	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
5	for	for	ADP	_	6 which	case
6	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	20 abandoned	obl
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 attempt	det
8	French	French	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 attempt	amod
9	attempt	attempt	NOUN	Number=Sing	20 abandoned	nsubj:pass
10	of	of	ADP	_	12 1880s	case
11	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 1880s	det
12	1880s	1880	NOUN	Number=Ptan NumForm=Combi NumType=Card	9 attempt	nmod
13	to	to	PART	_	14 construct	mark
14	construct	construct	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	9 attempt	acl
15	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	16 canal	det
16	canal	canal	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 construct	obj
17	across	across	ADP	_	18 Panama	case
18	Panama	Panama	PROPN	Number=Sing	14 construct	obl
19	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	20 abandoned	aux:pass
20	abandoned	abandon	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 reason	acl:relcl
21	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the principal reason			vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic
2	construct	to-infinitive		a canal	Panama		vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent canal=Result
3	abandon	past · passive		the French attempt of the 1880s		for the principal reason	vn leave-51.2 «NP V NP.initial_location»: subject=Source
4	attempt			the 1880s			nom attempt «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

The project was prohibited by the Government of Spain, which then still ruled the isthmus of Panama

The tree, 17 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 project	det
2	project	project	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 prohibited	nsubj:pass
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 prohibited	aux:pass
4	prohibited	prohibit	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	by	by	ADP	_	7 Government	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 Government	det
7	Government	government	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 prohibited	obl:agent
8	of	of	ADP	_	9 Spain	case
9	Spain	Spain	PROPN	Number=Sing	7 Government	nmod
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 ruled	punct
11	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	14 ruled	obj
12	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	14 ruled	advmod
13	still	still	ADV	_	14 ruled	advmod
14	ruled	rule	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 prohibited	conj
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 isthmus	det
16	isthmus	isthmus	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 ruled	obj
17	of	of	ADP	_	18 Panama	case
18	Panama	Panama	PROPN	Number=Sing	16 isthmus	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	prohibit	past · passive	the Government of Spain	the project					vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer subject=Theme
2	rule	past	the Government of Spain not said here	the isthmus of Panama			then; still		vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP NP»: agent=Agent which=Theme isthmus=Result

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

Approximately twenty-two thousand workers perished, principally from malaria and yellow fever

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Approximately	approximately	ADV	_	5 thousand	advmod
2	twenty	twenty	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	4 two	compound
3	-	-	PUNCT	_	2 twenty	punct
4	two	two	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	5 thousand	compound
5	thousand	thousand	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	6 workers	nummod
6	workers	worker	NOUN	Number=Plur	root	root
7	perished	perish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	6 workers	acl
8	,	,	PUNCT	_	11 malaria	punct
9	principally	principally	ADV	_	11 malaria	advmod
10	from	from	ADP	_	11 malaria	case
11	malaria	malaria	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 perished	obl
12	and	and	CCONJ	_	14 fever	cc
13	yellow	yellow	ADJ	Degree=Pos	14 fever	amod
14	fever	fever	NOUN	Number=Sing	11 malaria	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	perish	participle		thousand workers not said here		malaria and yellow fever			vn die-42.4-1 «NP V PP.cause»: agent=Patient from malaria=Causer

Option 3

The isthmus was found to contain insufficient water for the operation of any locks

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 isthmus	det
2	isthmus	isthmus	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 found	nsubj:pass
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 found	aux:pass
4	found	find	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	to	to	PART	_	6 contain	mark
6	contain	contain	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 found	xcomp
7	insufficient	insufficient	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 water	amod
8	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 contain	obj
9	for	for	ADP	_	11 operation	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 operation	det
11	operation	operation	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 contain	obl
12	of	of	ADP	_	14 locks	case
13	any	any	DET	PronType=Ind	14 locks	det
14	locks	lock	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 operation	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	find	past · passive		the isthmus		vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Attribute clause=Theme
2	contain	to-infinitive	the isthmus not said here	insufficient water	for the operation of any locks	vn comprise-107.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot water=Theme
3	operate			any locks		nom operation «state transitive»: of=patient

Option 4

The requisite funds were diverted to the enlargement of the Suez Canal

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 funds	det
2	requisite	requisite	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 funds	amod
3	funds	fund	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 diverted	nsubj:pass
4	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 diverted	aux:pass
5	diverted	divert	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	to	to	ADP	_	8 enlargement	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 enlargement	det
8	enlargement	enlargement	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 diverted	obl
9	of	of	ADP	_	12 Canal	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	12 Canal	det
11	Suez	Suez	PROPN	Number=Sing	12 Canal	compound
12	Canal	Canal	PROPN	Number=Sing	8 enlargement	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	divert	past · passive		the requisite funds				to the enlargement of the Suez Canal	vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer
2	enlarge			the Suez Canal					nom enlargement «act transitive»: of=patient

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/geography/20-canals-suez-panama-and-the-shortcuts/e3/