Exam question 4 · When civilizations meet: conquest, colonies and freedom, s…

Ascertain the means whereby Siam preserved its independence.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, the, Siam · What happens: ascertain, mean, preserve · To what, where: independence · Speech: someone speaks here

This is exam question 4 of lesson 76 «When civilizations meet: conquest, colonies and freedom, seen from both sides» 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	3 means	nsubj
3	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	1 Ascertain	ccomp
4	whereby	whereby	ADV	PronType=Int	6 preserved	advmod
5	Siam	Siam	PROPN	Number=Sing	6 preserved	nsubj
6	preserved	preserve	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 means	ccomp
7	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	8 independence	nmod:poss
8	independence	independence	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 preserved	obj
9	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Ascertain	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	ascertain	imperative	you not said here			vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
2	mean	present	the			vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
3	preserve	past	Siam	its independence	whereby property	vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent independence=Beneficiary

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

By the possession of the largest army in the world

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	ADP	_	3 possession	case
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 possession	det
3	possession	possession	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	7 army	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 army	det
6	largest	large	ADJ	Degree=Sup	7 army	amod
7	army	army	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 possession	nmod
8	in	in	ADP	_	10 world	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 world	det
10	world	world	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 army	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	possess			the largest army in the world					nom possession «act transitive»: of=patient

Option 2

By the conquest of the British Isles

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	ADP	_	3 conquest	case
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 conquest	det
3	conquest	conquest	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	of	of	ADP	_	7 Isles	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 Isles	det
6	British	British	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 Isles	amod
7	Isles	Isle	PROPN	Number=Plur	3 conquest	nmod

The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

Option 3

By its incorporation into the French Empire

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	ADP	_	3 incorporation	case
2	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	3 incorporation	nmod:poss
3	incorporation	incorporation	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	into	into	ADP	_	7 Empire	case
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 Empire	det
6	French	French	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 Empire	amod
7	Empire	Empire	PROPN	Number=Sing	3 incorporation	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	incorporate		its = it			the French Empire			nom incorporation «act transitive»: poss=agent into=place

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

By skilful diplomacy and the cession of certain territories

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	By	by	ADP	_	3 diplomacy	case
2	skilful	skilful	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 diplomacy	amod
3	diplomacy	diplomacy	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
4	and	and	CCONJ	_	6 cession	cc
5	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	6 cession	det
6	cession	cession	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 diplomacy	conj
7	of	of	ADP	_	9 territories	case
8	certain	certain	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 territories	amod
9	territories	territory	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 cession	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	cede			certain territories					nom cession «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/76-when-civilizations-meet-seen-from-both-sides/e4/