Exam question 2 · Mesopotamia: wheels, laws and empires

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the application of the said laws?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: said laws · What happens: follow, characteris, say, apply · To what, where: application · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 2 of lesson 4 «Mesopotamia: wheels, laws and empires» 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	10 application	det
10	application	application	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	14 laws	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 laws	det
13	said	say	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	14 laws	amod
14	laws	law	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 application	nmod
15	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the application of the said laws	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	say speech: assert	participle				vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent
4	apply		the said laws			nom application «act intransitive»: of=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 wealthy were subject to the more severe penalties

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 wealthy	det
2	wealthy	wealthy	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 subject	nsubj
3	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 subject	cop
4	subject	subject	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
5	to	to	ADP	_	9 penalties	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 penalties	det
7	more	more	ADV	Degree=Cmp	8 severe	advmod
8	severe	severe	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 penalties	amod
9	penalties	penalty	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 subject	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	past	the wealthy					to the severe penalties; subject property	tree rules

Option 2

All persons were treated with complete equality

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	All	all	DET	PronType=Tot	2 persons	det
2	persons	person	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 treated	nsubj:pass
3	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 treated	aux:pass
4	treated	treat	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	with	with	ADP	_	7 equality	case
6	complete	complete	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 equality	amod
7	equality	equality	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 treated	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	treat	past · passive		all persons				with complete equality	vn equip-13.4.2-1 «NP V NP-Fulfilling PP»: subject=Recipient with equality=Theme

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

Penalties were more severe for the poor and the enslaved than for the wealthy

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Penalties	penalty	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 severe	nsubj
2	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 severe	cop
3	more	more	ADV	Degree=Cmp	4 severe	advmod
4	severe	severe	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
5	for	for	ADP	_	7 poor	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 poor	det
7	poor	poor	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 severe	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 enslaved	cc
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 enslaved	det
10	enslaved	enslave	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 severe	conj
11	than	than	ADP	_	14 wealthy	case
12	for	for	ADP	_	14 wealthy	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 wealthy	det
14	wealthy	wealthy	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 enslaved	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	past	Penalties					for the poor; severe property	tree rules
2	enslave	participle	Penalties not said here					than the wealthy	vn subjugate-42.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

Option 4

No penalties whatsoever were prescribed

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	No	no	DET	PronType=Neg	2 penalties	det
2	penalties	penalty	NOUN	Number=Plur	5 prescribed	nsubj:pass
3	whatsoever	whatsoever	PRON	PronType=Rel	2 penalties	acl:relcl
4	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 prescribed	aux:pass
5	prescribed	prescribe	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	prescribe	past · passive		no penalties					tree rules

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/4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires/e2/