Exam question 3 · China: the Qing and the Opium Wars

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the reply of the Qianlong Emperor to the embassy of 1793?

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 3 · right ✓ · What happens: follow, characteris, reply · To what, where: reply, Qianlong Emperor

This is exam question 3 of lesson 57 «China: the Qing and the Opium Wars» 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	1 Which	nmod
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 reply	det
10	reply	reply	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	14 Emperor	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 Emperor	det
13	Qianlong	Qianlong	PROPN	Number=Sing	14 Emperor	compound
14	Emperor	Emperor	PROPN	Number=Sing	10 reply	nmod
15	to	to	ADP	_	17 embassy	case
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 embassy	det
17	embassy	embassy	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obl
18	of	of	ADP	_	19 1793	case
19	1793	1793	NUM	NumForm=Digit NumType=Card	17 embassy	nmod
20	?	?	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 reply of the Qianlong Emperor	to the embassy of 1793; accurately property	tree rules
3	reply		the Qianlong Emperor		nom reply «communication transitive»: of=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

China accepted a permanent British embassy

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	China	China	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 accepted	nsubj
2	accepted	accept	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	6 embassy	det
4	permanent	permanent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 embassy	amod
5	British	British	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 embassy	amod
6	embassy	embassy	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 accepted	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	accept	past	China	a permanent British embassy					vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent embassy=Theme

Option 2

China wished to purchase British warships

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	China	China	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 wished	nsubj
2	wished	wish	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	to	to	PART	_	4 purchase	mark
4	purchase	purchase	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 wished	xcomp
5	British	British	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 warships	amod
6	warships	warship	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 purchase	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	wish	past	China						vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme
2	purchase not said to happen	to-infinitive	China not said here	British warships					vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset warship=Theme

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

China possessed all things and required no British goods

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	China	China	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 possessed	nsubj
2	possessed	possess	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	4 things	det
4	things	thing	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 possessed	obj
5	and	and	CCONJ	_	6 required	cc
6	required	require	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 possessed	conj
7	no	no	DET	PronType=Neg	9 goods	det
8	British	British	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 goods	amod
9	goods	goods	NOUN	Number=Ptan	6 required	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	possess	past	China	all things					vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot thing=Theme
2	require	past	China not said here	no British goods					vn require-103-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme goods=Precondition

Option 4

China offered Hong Kong in exchange for opium

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	China	China	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 offered	nsubj
2	offered	offer	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	Hong	Hong	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 offered	iobj
4	Kong	Kong	PROPN	Number=Sing	3 Hong	flat
5	in	in	ADP	_	6 exchange	case
6	exchange	exchange	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 offered	obl
7	for	for	ADP	_	8 opium	case
8	opium	opium	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 exchange	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	offer	past	China		Hong	exchange for opium			vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent hong=Theme

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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