Exam question 4 · China: the Silk Road and the Tang

Ascertain the consequence for the Tang dynasty of the rebellion commenced by An Lushan in 755.

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 3 · right ✓ · Who acts: you · What happens: ascertain, commence · To what, where: consequence, rebellion, 755

This is exam question 4 of lesson 54 «China: the Silk Road and the Tang» 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	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 consequence	det
3	consequence	consequence	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
4	for	for	ADP	_	7 dynasty	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 dynasty	det
6	Tang	Tang	PROPN	Number=Sing	7 dynasty	compound
7	dynasty	dynasty	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 consequence	nmod
8	of	of	ADP	_	10 rebellion	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 rebellion	det
10	rebellion	rebellion	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 dynasty	nmod
11	commenced	commence	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	10 rebellion	acl
12	by	by	ADP	_	14 Lushan	case
13	An	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 Lushan	det
14	Lushan	Lushan	PROPN	Number=Sing	11 commenced	obl
15	in	in	ADP	_	16 755	case
16	755	755	NUM	NumForm=Digit NumType=Card	11 commenced	obl
17	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here	the consequence				for the Tang dynasty of the rebellion	vn ensure-99 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Precondition consequence=Theme for dynasty=Beneficiary
2	commence	participle		the rebellion not said here		755		by a Lushan	vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality

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

An immediate and lasting increase in the prosperity of the empire

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	An	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 increase	det
2	immediate	immediate	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 increase	amod
3	and	and	CCONJ	_	4 lasting	cc
4	lasting	lasting	ADJ	Degree=Pos	2 immediate	conj
5	increase	increase	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
6	in	in	ADP	_	8 prosperity	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 prosperity	det
8	prosperity	prosperity	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 increase	nmod
9	of	of	ADP	_	11 empire	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 empire	det
11	empire	empire	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 prosperity	nmod

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

Option 2

The unification of China under the Qin

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 unification	det
2	unification	unification	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 China	case
4	China	China	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 unification	nmod
5	under	under	ADP	_	7 Qin	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 Qin	det
7	Qin	Qin	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 unification	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	unify			China		the Qin			nom unification «event transitive»: of=patient under=place

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

A grave decline from which the dynasty never fully recovered

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 decline	det
2	grave	grave	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 decline	amod
3	decline	decline	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	from	from	ADP	_	7 dynasty	case
5	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	7 dynasty	nsubj
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 dynasty	det
7	dynasty	dynasty	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 decline	nmod
8	never	never	ADV	PronType=Neg	10 recovered	advmod
9	fully	fully	ADV	_	10 recovered	advmod
10	recovered	recover	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 decline	acl:relcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	not recover	participle		a grave decline from the dynasty not said here				fully property	vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

Option 4

The transfer of the capital to Rome

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 transfer	det
2	transfer	transfer	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 capital	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 capital	det
5	capital	capital	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 transfer	nmod
6	to	to	ADP	_	7 Rome	case
7	Rome	Rome	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 transfer	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	transfer			the capital				to Rome	nom transfer «act transitive»: of=patient to=obl

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/54-china-the-silk-road-and-the-tang/e4/