Exam question 4 · Light, machines and medicine: how the last 250 years chang…

Ascertain the principal reason for the adoption of the two-day weekend in the early twentieth century.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: you · What happens: ascertain, adopt · To what, where: principal reason, day weekend

This is exam question 4 of lesson 65 «Light, machines and medicine: how the last 250 years changed a normal day» 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	4 reason	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 reason	amod
4	reason	reason	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Ascertain	obj
5	for	for	ADP	_	7 adoption	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 adoption	det
7	adoption	adoption	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 reason	nmod
8	of	of	ADP	_	13 weekend	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 weekend	det
10	two	two	NUM	NumForm=Word NumType=Card	12 day	nummod
11	-	-	PUNCT	_	10 two	punct
12	day	day	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 weekend	compound
13	weekend	weekend	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 adoption	nmod
14	in	in	ADP	_	18 century	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 century	det
16	early	early	ADJ	Degree=Pos	18 century	amod
17	twentieth	twentieth	ADJ	Degree=Pos	18 century	amod
18	century	century	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 weekend	nmod
19	.	.	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 principal reason				for the adoption of the day weekend in the early twentieth century	vn ensure-99 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Precondition reason=Theme for adoption=Beneficiary
2	adopt			the day weekend in the early twentieth century					nom adoption «act 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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

Sustained campaigning by workers for reduced hours

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Sustained	sustain	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
2	campaigning	campaigning	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Sustained	obj
3	by	by	ADP	_	4 workers	case
4	workers	worker	NOUN	Number=Plur	1 Sustained	obl:agent
5	for	for	ADP	_	7 hours	case
6	reduced	reduce	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	7 hours	amod
7	hours	hour	NOUN	Number=Plur	1 Sustained	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	sustain	participle		campaigning			hour		vn sustain-55.6 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent campaigning=Theme
2	reduce	participle							vn limit-76 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer

Option 2

A decree of the Roman Empire revived by later kings

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 decree	det
2	decree	decree	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 revived	nsubj
3	of	of	ADP	_	6 Empire	case
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 Empire	det
5	Roman	Roman	PROPN	Number=Sing	6 Empire	compound
6	Empire	Empire	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 decree	nmod
7	revived	revive	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
8	by	by	ADP	_	10 kings	case
9	later	late	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	10 kings	amod
10	kings	king	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 revived	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	revive	past	a decree of the Roman Empire					by later kings	vn other_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient
2	decree		the Roman Empire						nom decree «communication intransitive»: of=agent

Option 3

The invention of plastic and of household machines

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 invention	det
2	invention	invention	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 plastic	case
4	plastic	plastic	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 invention	nmod
5	and	and	CCONJ	_	8 machines	cc
6	of	of	ADP	_	8 machines	case
7	household	household	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 machines	compound
8	machines	machine	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 invention	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	invent			plastic					nom invention «cognition transitive»: of=patient

Option 4

A natural law of the calendar observed since antiquity

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	3 law	det
2	natural	natural	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 law	amod
3	law	law	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	6 calendar	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 calendar	det
6	calendar	calendar	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 law	nmod
7	observed	observe	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 law	acl
8	since	since	ADP	_	9 antiquity	case
9	antiquity	antiquity	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 observed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	observe	participle		a natural law of the calendar not said here			since antiquity		vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent

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/65-light-machines-and-medicine-how-the-last-250-years-changed-a-normal-day/e4/