Exam question 4 · China: the four great inventions

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the belief that Marco Polo introduced noodles into Italy?

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: Marco · What happens: follow, characteris, introduce · To what, where: belief, Italy, noodles

This is exam question 4 of lesson 53 «China: the four great inventions» 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 belief	det
10	belief	belief	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	that	that	SCONJ	_	14 introduced	mark
12	Marco	Marco	PROPN	Number=Sing	14 introduced	nsubj
13	Polo	Polo	PROPN	Number=Sing	12 Marco	flat
14	introduced	introduce	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	10 belief	acl
15	noodles	noodle	NOUN	Number=Plur	14 introduced	obj
16	into	into	ADP	_	17 Italy	case
17	Italy	Italy	PROPN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obl
18	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund					vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the belief	Italy	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	introduce	past	Marco	noodles			vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent noodle=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

It is confirmed by the bowl found at Lajia

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 confirmed	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 confirmed	aux:pass
3	confirmed	confirm	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	SCONJ	_	7 found	mark
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 bowl	det
6	bowl	bowl	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 found	nsubj
7	found	find	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 confirmed	advcl
8	at	at	ADP	_	9 Lajia	case
9	Lajia	Lajia	PROPN	Number=Sing	7 found	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	confirm	present · passive		It					vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic
2	find	past	the bowl			Lajia			vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S_INF»: agent=Agent

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

It is a modern myth, pasta having been known in Italy previously

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	5 myth	nsubj
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 myth	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 myth	det
4	modern	modern	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 myth	amod
5	myth	myth	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	7 pasta	punct
7	pasta	pasta	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 myth	conj
8	having	have	AUX	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	10 known	aux
9	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	10 known	aux:pass
10	known	know	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 myth	parataxis
11	in	in	ADP	_	12 Italy	case
12	Italy	Italy	PROPN	Number=Sing	10 known	obl
13	previously	previously	ADV	_	10 known	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a modern myth and pasta					tree rules
2	know	gerund · perfect · passive				Italy		previously property	vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»

Option 3

It is attested by the Diamond Sutra

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 attested	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	3 attested	aux:pass
3	attested	attest	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	ADP	_	6 Diamond	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 Diamond	det
6	Diamond	Diamond	PROPN	Number=Sing	3 attested	obl:agent
7	Sutra	Sutra	PROPN	Number=Sing	6 Diamond	flat

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	attest	present · passive	the Diamond	It					tree rules

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice

It is conclusively established by his writings and by the records of Venice

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	4 established	nsubj:pass
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 established	aux:pass
3	conclusively	conclusively	ADV	_	4 established	advmod
4	established	establish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	by	by	ADP	_	7 writings	case
6	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	7 writings	nmod:poss
7	writings	writing	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 established	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 records	cc
9	by	by	ADP	_	11 records	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 records	det
11	records	record	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 writings	conj
12	of	of	ADP	_	13 Venice	case
13	Venice	Venice	PROPN	Number=Sing	11 records	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	establish	present · passive	his writings and the records of Venice	It	conclusively property	vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient
2	write		his = he			nom writing «act transitive»: poss=agent
3	record			Venice		nom record «communication 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.

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