Exam question 3 · Ancient India: Ashoka, zero and our numbers

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the contribution of Aryabhata?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris, contribute · To what, where: contribution, Aryabhata

This is exam question 3 of lesson 8 «Ancient India: Ashoka, zero and our numbers» 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 contribution	det
10	contribution	contribution	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	12 Aryabhata	case
12	Aryabhata	Aryabhata	PROPN	Number=Sing	10 contribution	nmod
13	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund			vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present	the contribution of Aryabhata	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	contribute		Aryabhata		nom contribution «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

He founded the Maurya Empire

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 founded	nsubj
2	founded	found	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 Empire	det
4	Maurya	Maurya	PROPN	Number=Sing	5 Empire	compound
5	Empire	Empire	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 founded	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	found	past	He	the Maurya Empire					vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent empire=Patient

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

He maintained that the Earth rotates and computed pi with precision

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 maintained	nsubj
2	maintained	maintain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	that	that	SCONJ	_	6 rotates	mark
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 Earth	det
5	Earth	Earth	PROPN	Number=Sing	6 rotates	nsubj
6	rotates	rotate	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 maintained	ccomp
7	and	and	CCONJ	_	9 pi	cc
8	computed	compute	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	9 pi	amod
9	pi	pi	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 rotates	conj
10	with	with	ADP	_	11 precision	case
11	precision	precision	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 pi	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	roles by
1	maintain	past	He	vn declare-29.4-1 «NP V what S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
2	rotate	present	the Earth	vn modes_of_being_with_motion-47.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme
3	compute	participle		vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent

Option 3

He invented the game of chess

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 invented	nsubj
2	invented	invent	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 game	det
4	game	game	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 invented	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	6 chess	case
6	chess	chess	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 game	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	invent	past	He	the game of chess					vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent game=Result

Option 4

He conquered the land of Kalinga

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 conquered	nsubj
2	conquered	conquer	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 land	det
4	land	land	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 conquered	obj
5	of	of	ADP	_	6 Kalinga	case
6	Kalinga	Kalinga	PROPN	Number=Sing	4 land	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	conquer	past	He	the land of Kalinga					vn subjugate-42.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent land=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.

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