Exam question 2 · Ancient China: paper, silk, the Silk Road and Confucius

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the so-called Silk Road?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · What happens: follow, characteris, call · To what, where: called Silk Road · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 2 of lesson 10 «Ancient China: paper, silk, the Silk Road and Confucius» of the history 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	14 Road	det
10	so	so	ADV	_	12 called	advmod
11	-	-	PUNCT	_	10 so	punct
12	called	call	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	14 Road	amod
13	Silk	Silk	PROPN	Number=Sing	14 Road	compound
14	Road	Road	PROPN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
15	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund			vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present	the called Silk Road	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	call	participle			vn initiate_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: 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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

A network of overland trade routes linking China with Persia and the Mediterranean

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 network	det
2	network	network	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	6 routes	case
4	overland	overland	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 routes	amod
5	trade	trade	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 routes	compound
6	routes	route	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 network	nmod
7	linking	link	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	6 routes	acl
8	China	China	PROPN	Number=Sing	7 linking	obj
9	with	with	ADP	_	10 Persia	case
10	Persia	Persia	PROPN	Number=Sing	7 linking	obl
11	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 Mediterranean	cc
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 Mediterranean	det
13	Mediterranean	Mediterranean	PROPN	Number=Sing	10 Persia	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	link	gerund	overland trade routes not said here	China				with Persia and the Mediterranean	vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent china=Patient with persia=Co-Patient

Option 2

A canal conveying silk from the Yellow River to Rome

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 canal	det
2	canal	canal	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	conveying	convey	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	2 canal	acl
4	silk	silk	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 conveying	obj
5	from	from	ADP	_	8 River	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 River	det
7	Yellow	Yellow	PROPN	Number=Sing	8 River	compound
8	River	River	PROPN	Number=Sing	3 conveying	obl
9	to	to	ADP	_	10 Rome	case
10	Rome	Rome	PROPN	Number=Sing	3 conveying	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	convey	gerund	a canal not said here	silk	Rome	the Yellow River			vn send-11.1 «NP V NP PP.initial_location PP.destination»: agent=Agent silk=Theme from river=Initial_Location to rome=Destination

Option 3

A fortification upon the northern frontier

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 fortification	det
2	fortification	fortification	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	upon	upon	ADP	_	6 frontier	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 frontier	det
5	northern	northern	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 frontier	amod
6	frontier	frontier	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 fortification	nmod

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

Option 4

A single paved highway lying wholly within China

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 highway	det
2	single	single	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 highway	amod
3	paved	pave	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 highway	amod
4	highway	highway	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	lying	lie	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	4 highway	acl
6	wholly	wholly	ADV	_	5 lying	advmod
7	within	within	ADP	_	8 China	case
8	China	China	PROPN	Number=Sing	5 lying	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	pave	participle							vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme
2	lie	gerund	a single paved highway not said here					within China; wholly property	vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent

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/history/10-ancient-china-paper-silk-the-silk-road-and-confucius/e2/