Exam question 1 · How writing began: from tally marks and pictures to the al…

Identify the principal purpose for which writing was first employed in Mesopotamia.

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you · What happens: identify, employ · To what, where: principal purpose, writing, Mesopotamia

This is exam question 1 of lesson 82 «How writing began: from tally marks and pictures to the alphabet» 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	Identify	identify	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 purpose	det
3	principal	principal	ADJ	Degree=Pos	4 purpose	amod
4	purpose	purpose	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Identify	obj
5	for	for	ADP	_	6 which	case
6	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	10 employed	obl
7	writing	writing	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 employed	nsubj:pass
8	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	10 employed	aux:pass
9	first	first	ADV	NumForm=Word NumType=Ord	10 employed	advmod
10	employed	employ	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 purpose	acl:relcl
11	in	in	ADP	_	12 Mesopotamia	case
12	Mesopotamia	Mesopotamia	PROPN	Number=Sing	10 employed	obl
13	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 Identify	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	identify	imperative	you not said here	the principal purpose					vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent purpose=Theme
2	employ	past · passive		writing		Mesopotamia		for the principal purpose; first property	vn use-105.1 «NP V NP PP.predicate»: subject=Theme for which=Eventuality

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 drawing of maps for travellers by sea

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 drawing	det
2	drawing	drawing	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 maps	case
4	maps	map	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 drawing	nmod
5	for	for	ADP	_	6 travellers	case
6	travellers	traveller	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 drawing	nmod
7	by	by	ADP	_	8 sea	case
8	sea	sea	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 drawing	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	draw		maps					for travellers	nom drawing «communication intransitive»: of=agent for=obl

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

The recording of quantities of grain, livestock and other goods held by temples and traders

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 recording	det
2	recording	recording	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 quantities	case
4	quantities	quantity	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 recording	nmod
5	of	of	ADP	_	6 grain	case
6	grain	grain	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 quantities	nmod
7	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 livestock	punct
8	livestock	livestock	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 grain	conj
9	and	and	CCONJ	_	11 goods	cc
10	other	other	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 goods	amod
11	goods	goods	NOUN	Number=Ptan	4 quantities	conj
12	held	hold	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 quantities	acl
13	by	by	ADP	_	14 temples	case
14	temples	temple	NOUN	Number=Plur	12 held	obl
15	and	and	CCONJ	_	16 traders	cc
16	traders	trader	NOUN	Number=Plur	14 temples	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	hold	participle		quantities of grain and livestock and other goods not said here				by temples and traders	vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme by temple=Location

Option 3

The teaching of children to read in schools

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 teaching	det
2	teaching	teaching	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 children	case
4	children	child	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 teaching	nmod
5	to	to	PART	_	6 read	mark
6	read	read	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 teaching	acl
7	in	in	ADP	_	8 schools	case
8	schools	school	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 read	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	read	to-infinitive				schools			vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	teach			children					nom teaching «act transitive»: of=patient

Option 4

The composition of poetry for the entertainment of kings

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 composition	det
2	composition	composition	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	of	of	ADP	_	4 poetry	case
4	poetry	poetry	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 composition	nmod
5	for	for	ADP	_	7 entertainment	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 entertainment	det
7	entertainment	entertainment	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 composition	nmod
8	of	of	ADP	_	9 kings	case
9	kings	king	NOUN	Number=Plur	7 entertainment	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	entertain			kings					nom entertainment «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.

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