Exam question 2 · Why some places grew rich

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the consequences for Spain of the silver of Potosí?

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris · To what, where: consequences

This is exam question 2 of lesson 72 «Why some places grew rich» 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 consequences	det
10	consequences	consequence	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 characterises	obj
11	for	for	ADP	_	12 Spain	case
12	Spain	Spain	PROPN	Number=Sing	10 consequences	nmod
13	of	of	ADP	_	15 silver	case
14	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	15 silver	det
15	silver	silver	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 Spain	nmod
16	of	of	ADP	_	17 Potosí	case
17	Potosí	Potosí	PROPN	Number=Sing	15 silver	nmod
18	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund							vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the consequences				of the following statements; for Spain of the silver of Potosí; accurately property	tree rules

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 was wholly distributed among the Spanish peasantry

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 distributed	nsubj:pass
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 distributed	aux:pass
3	wholly	wholly	ADV	_	4 distributed	advmod
4	distributed	distribute	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	among	among	ADP	_	8 peasantry	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 peasantry	det
7	Spanish	Spanish	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 peasantry	amod
8	peasantry	peasantry	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 distributed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	distribute	past · passive		It				among the Spanish peasantry; wholly property	vn contribute-13.2-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: subject=Theme among peasantry=Recipient

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

Much was expended upon wars, prices rose, and a great part passed onward to China

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Much	much	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 expended	nsubj:pass
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 expended	aux:pass
3	expended	expend	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	upon	upon	ADP	_	5 wars	case
5	wars	war	NOUN	Number=Plur	3 expended	obl
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 rose	punct
7	prices	price	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 rose	nsubj
8	rose	rise	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 wars	acl:relcl
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 passed	punct
10	and	and	CCONJ	_	14 passed	cc
11	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 part	det
12	great	great	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 part	amod
13	part	part	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 passed	nsubj
14	passed	pass	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	3 expended	conj
15	onward	onward	ADV	_	14 passed	advmod
16	to	to	ADP	_	17 China	case
17	China	China	PROPN	Number=Sing	14 passed	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	expend	past · passive		Much		upon wars	tree rules
2	rise	past	prices	wars not said here			vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location war=Theme
3	pass	participle	a great part		China	onward property	vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme to china=Initial_Location

Option 3

It was never transported out of the Americas

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 transported	nsubj:pass
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 transported	aux:pass
3	never	never	ADV	PronType=Neg	4 transported	advmod
4	transported	transport	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	out	out	ADP	_	8 Americas	case
6	of	of	ADP	_	8 Americas	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 Americas	det
8	Americas	AMERICAS	PROPN	Number=Plur	4 transported	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	not transport	past · passive		It		the Americas			vn send-11.1 «NP V NP PP.initial_location»: subject=Theme out americas=Initial_Location

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice

It ensured permanent and unrivalled prosperity for Spain

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	2 ensured	nsubj
2	ensured	ensure	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	permanent	permanent	ADJ	Degree=Pos	6 prosperity	amod
4	and	and	CCONJ	_	5 unrivalled	cc
5	unrivalled	unrivalled	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 permanent	conj
6	prosperity	prosperity	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 ensured	obj
7	for	for	ADP	_	8 Spain	case
8	Spain	Spain	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 ensured	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	ensure	past	It	permanent prosperity				for Spain	vn ensure-99 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Precondition prosperity=Theme for spain=Beneficiary

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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