Test 9 · ★ · Ideas on the move: numbers, paper, letters, chess and news
Tom: "The Greeks had a steam toy and didn't make trains? Big L." ("L" means loss.) What would they have needed?
Mova's choice: option 2 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: Greeks, L · What happens: have, not make, mean, need · To what, where: steam toy, trains, Big L.
This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 75 «Ideas on the move: numbers, paper, letters, chess and news» of the history course of Mova's primary school. 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
Sentence 1: Tom: "The Greeks had a steam toy and didn't make trains?
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom | Tom | PROPN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 2 | : | : | PUNCT | _ | 6 had | punct |
| 3 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 6 had | punct |
| 4 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 5 Greeks | det |
| 5 | Greeks | Greek | PROPN | Number=Plur | 6 had | nsubj |
| 6 | had | have | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 1 Tom | parataxis |
| 7 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 9 toy | det |
| 8 | steam | steam | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 toy | compound |
| 9 | toy | toy | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 had | obj |
| 10 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 13 make | cc |
| 11 | did | do | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 13 make | aux |
| 12 | n't | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 13 make | advmod |
| 13 | make | make | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 6 had | conj |
| 14 | trains | train | NOUN | Number=Plur | 13 make | obj |
| 15 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 1 Tom | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | have in a quote | past | the Greeks | a steam toy | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent toy=Patient | ||||
| 2 | not make in a quote | past · do-support | the Greeks not said here | trains | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset train=Product |
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.
Sentence 2: Big L." ("L" means loss.)
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big | big | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 2 L. | amod |
| 2 | L. | L. | PROPN | Number=Sing | 8 means | obl |
| 3 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 2 L. | punct |
| 4 | ( | ( | PUNCT | _ | 6 L | punct |
| 5 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 6 L | punct |
| 6 | L | l | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 means | nsubj |
| 7 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 6 L | punct |
| 8 | means | mean | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 9 | loss | loss | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 means | obj |
| 10 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 8 means | punct |
| 11 | ) | ) | PUNCT | _ | 8 means | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | mean in a quote | present | L | Big L. | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent loss=Topic |
Sentence 3: What would they have needed?
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | What | what | PRON | PronType=Int | 5 needed | nsubj:pass |
| 2 | would | would | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 5 needed | aux |
| 3 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 5 needed | nsubj:pass |
| 4 | have | have | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 5 needed | aux |
| 5 | needed | need | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 6 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 5 needed | punct |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | need | would · perfect · passive | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: subject=Theme |
The options
Option 1
Only a bigger toy and a few more slaves to turn it
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Only | only | ADV | _ | 4 toy | advmod |
| 2 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 4 toy | det |
| 3 | bigger | big | ADJ | Degree=Cmp | 4 toy | amod |
| 4 | toy | toy | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 5 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 9 slaves | cc |
| 6 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 9 slaves | det |
| 7 | few | few | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 9 slaves | amod |
| 8 | more | more | ADJ | Degree=Cmp | 9 slaves | amod |
| 9 | slaves | slave | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 toy | conj |
| 10 | to | to | PART | _ | 11 turn | mark |
| 11 | turn | turn | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 9 slaves | acl |
| 12 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 11 turn | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | turn | to-infinitive | it | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
Option 2 · ← Mova's choice
Nothing, because trains need no steam
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nothing | nothing | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Neg | root | root |
| 2 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 5 need | punct |
| 3 | because | because | SCONJ | _ | 5 need | mark |
| 4 | trains | train | NOUN | Number=Plur | 5 need | nsubj |
| 5 | need | need | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 1 Nothing | parataxis |
| 6 | no | no | DET | PronType=Neg | 7 steam | det |
| 7 | steam | steam | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 need | obj |
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | need | present | trains | no steam | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot steam=Theme |
Option 3
Permission from the Romans
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Permission | permission | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 2 | from | from | ADP | _ | 4 Romans | case |
| 3 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 4 Romans | det |
| 4 | Romans | Roman | PROPN | Number=Plur | 1 Permission | appos |
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.
Option 4 · ✓ the right answer
A use for steam power, metal skills and fuel all together
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 2 use | det |
| 2 | use | use | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 3 | for | for | ADP | _ | 5 power | case |
| 4 | steam | steam | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 power | compound |
| 5 | power | power | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 use | nmod |
| 6 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 8 skills | punct |
| 7 | metal | metal | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 skills | compound |
| 8 | skills | skill | NOUN | Number=Plur | 2 use | conj |
| 9 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 10 fuel | cc |
| 10 | fuel | fuel | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 use | conj |
| 11 | all | all | ADV | _ | 12 together | advmod |
| 12 | together | together | ADV | _ | 2 use | advmod |
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.
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/75-ideas-on-the-move-numbers-paper-letters-chess-and-news/t9/