Exam question 2 · Everyday inventions: pots, boats, wheels, horses, clocks a…

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the non-use of wheeled carts in Aztec Mexico.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, established facts · What happens: select, establish, concern, wheel · To what, where: response, non-use

This is exam question 2 of lesson 62 «Everyday inventions: pots, boats, wheels, horses, clocks and glasses» 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	Select	select	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 response	det
3	response	response	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Select	obj
4	consistent	consistent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	1 Select	xcomp
5	with	with	ADP	_	8 facts	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 facts	det
7	established	establish	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	8 facts	amod
8	facts	fact	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 consistent	obl
9	concerning	concern	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	8 facts	acl
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 non-use	det
11	non-use	non-use	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 concerning	obj
12	of	of	ADP	_	14 carts	case
13	wheeled	wheel	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	14 carts	amod
14	carts	cart	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 non-use	nmod
15	in	in	ADP	_	17 Mexico	case
16	Aztec	Aztec	PROPN	Number=Sing	17 Mexico	compound
17	Mexico	Mexico	PROPN	Number=Sing	14 carts	nmod
18	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Select	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	select	imperative	you not said here	the response	consistent property	vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme
2	establish	participle				vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot
3	concern	gerund	the established facts not said here	the non-use of wheeled carts in Aztec Mexico		vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus non-use=Experiencer
4	wheel	participle				vn drive-11.5 «NP V NP»: 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

Wheels were prohibited by a Spanish decree of the year 1400

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Wheels	wheel	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 prohibited	nsubj:pass
2	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 prohibited	aux:pass
3	prohibited	prohibit	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	by	by	ADP	_	7 decree	case
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 decree	det
6	Spanish	Spanish	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 decree	amod
7	decree	decree	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 prohibited	obl
8	of	of	ADP	_	10 year	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 year	det
10	year	year	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 decree	nmod
11	1400	1400	NUM	NumForm=Digit NumType=Card	10 year	flat

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	prohibit	past · passive	a Spanish decree of the year	Wheels					vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer subject=Theme
2	decree		the year						nom decree «communication intransitive»: of=agent

Option 2

The principle of the wheel was wholly unknown in the Americas

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 principle	det
2	principle	principle	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 unknown	nsubj
3	of	of	ADP	_	5 wheel	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 wheel	det
5	wheel	wheel	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 principle	nmod
6	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	8 unknown	cop
7	wholly	wholly	ADV	_	8 unknown	advmod
8	unknown	unknown	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
9	in	in	ADP	_	11 Americas	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 Americas	det
11	Americas	AMERICAS	PROPN	Number=Plur	8 unknown	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	past	the principle of the wheel			the Americas		unknown, wholly property	tree rules

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

Draught animals were absent and the terrain was unsuitable

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Draught	draught	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 animals	compound
2	animals	animal	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 absent	nsubj
3	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 absent	cop
4	absent	absent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
5	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 unsuitable	cc
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 terrain	det
7	terrain	terrain	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 unsuitable	nsubj
8	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	9 unsuitable	cop
9	unsuitable	unsuitable	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 absent	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	past	Draught animals					absent property	tree rules
2	is	past	the terrain					unsuitable property	tree rules

Option 4

The population was incapable of construction of any kind

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 population	det
2	population	population	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 incapable	nsubj
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 incapable	cop
4	incapable	incapable	ADJ	Degree=Pos	root	root
5	of	of	ADP	_	6 construction	case
6	construction	construction	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 incapable	obl
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 kind	case
8	any	any	DET	PronType=Ind	9 kind	det
9	kind	kind	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 construction	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is	past	the population					of construction of any kind; incapable property	tree rules
2	construct			any kind					nom construction «act 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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/62-everyday-inventions-pots-boats-wheels-horses-clocks-and-glasses/e2/