Exam question 4 · The Silk Road
It is given that the designation "Silk Road" was not employed by medieval merchants. Ascertain its origin.
Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: medieval merchants, you · What happens: give, not employ, ascertain · To what, where: It, designation, origin
This is exam question 4 of lesson 28 «The Silk Road» 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
Sentence 1: It is given that the designation "Silk Road" was not employed by medieval merchants.
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 | 3 given | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 given | aux:pass |
| 3 | given | give | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 4 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 13 employed | mark |
| 5 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 6 designation | det |
| 6 | designation | designation | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 employed | nsubj:pass |
| 7 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 9 Road | punct |
| 8 | Silk | Silk | PROPN | Number=Sing | 9 Road | compound |
| 9 | Road | Road | PROPN | Number=Sing | 6 designation | appos |
| 10 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 9 Road | punct |
| 11 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 13 employed | aux:pass |
| 12 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 13 employed | advmod |
| 13 | employed | employ | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 3 given | advcl |
| 14 | by | by | ADP | _ | 16 merchants | case |
| 15 | medieval | medieval | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 16 merchants | amod |
| 16 | merchants | merchant | NOUN | Number=Plur | 13 employed | obl |
| 17 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 3 given | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | give | present · passive | It | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | |||||
| 2 | not employ | past · passive | medieval merchants | the designation | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=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.
Sentence 2: Ascertain its origin.
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ascertain | ascertain | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 2 | its | its | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 3 origin | nmod:poss |
| 3 | origin | origin | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Ascertain | obj |
| 4 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 1 Ascertain | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ascertain | imperative | you not said here | designation's origin | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent origin=Topic |
The options
Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer
It was devised by the geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen in 1877
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 | 3 devised | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 3 devised | aux:pass |
| 3 | devised | devise | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 4 | by | by | ADP | _ | 6 geographer | case |
| 5 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 6 geographer | det |
| 6 | geographer | geographer | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 devised | obl |
| 7 | Ferdinand | Ferdinand | PROPN | Number=Sing | 6 geographer | appos |
| 8 | von | von | PROPN | _ | 7 Ferdinand | flat |
| 9 | Richthofen | Richthofen | PROPN | Number=Sing | 7 Ferdinand | flat |
| 10 | in | in | ADP | _ | 11 1877 | case |
| 11 | 1877 | 1877 | NUM | NumForm=Digit NumType=Card | 3 devised | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | devise | past · passive | the geographer | It | 1877 | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |
Option 2
It was devised by Marco Polo in the account of his travels
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 | 3 devised | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 3 devised | aux:pass |
| 3 | devised | devise | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 4 | by | by | ADP | _ | 5 Marco | case |
| 5 | Marco | Marco | PROPN | Number=Sing | 3 devised | obl:agent |
| 6 | Polo | Polo | PROPN | Number=Sing | 5 Marco | flat |
| 7 | in | in | ADP | _ | 9 account | case |
| 8 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 9 account | det |
| 9 | account | account | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 devised | obl |
| 10 | of | of | SCONJ | _ | 12 travels | mark |
| 11 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 12 travels | nmod:poss |
| 12 | travels | travel | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 9 account | advcl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | devise | past · passive | Marco | It | the account | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient | |||
| 2 | travel | present | Marco not said here | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
Option 3
It was devised by the Roman Senate in antiquity
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 | 3 devised | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 3 devised | aux:pass |
| 3 | devised | devise | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 4 | by | by | ADP | _ | 7 Senate | case |
| 5 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 Senate | det |
| 6 | Roman | Roman | PROPN | Number=Sing | 7 Senate | compound |
| 7 | Senate | Senate | PROPN | Number=Sing | 3 devised | obl |
| 8 | in | in | ADP | _ | 9 antiquity | case |
| 9 | antiquity | antiquity | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 devised | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | devise | past · passive | the Roman Senate | It | antiquity | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |
Option 4
It was devised by Kublai Khan in an imperial decree
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 | 3 devised | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 3 devised | aux:pass |
| 3 | devised | devise | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 4 | by | by | ADP | _ | 5 Kublai | case |
| 5 | Kublai | Kublai | PROPN | Number=Sing | 3 devised | obl:agent |
| 6 | Khan | Khan | PROPN | Number=Sing | 5 Kublai | flat |
| 7 | in | in | ADP | _ | 10 decree | case |
| 8 | an | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 10 decree | det |
| 9 | imperial | imperial | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 10 decree | amod |
| 10 | decree | decree | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 devised | obl |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | devise | past · passive | Kublai | It | a imperial decree | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=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.
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