---
title: Ascertain the reason for which purple was historically associated wi… — Colours: mixing, the colour wheel, war… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which purple was historically associated with persons of high rank. Exam question 4 of lesson 13 «Colours: mixing, the colour wheel, warm and cool» of the arts course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's
---

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# Exam question 4 · Colours: mixing, the colour wheel, warm and cool

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which purple was historically associated with persons of high rank.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, associate · **To what, where:** reason, purple

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 13 «Colours: mixing, the colour wheel, warm and cool» of the arts 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/arts/13-colours-mixing-the-colour-wheel-warm-and-cool/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:13-colours-mixing-the-colour-wheel-warm-and-cool:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which purple was historically associated with persons of high rank.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
6	purple	purple	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
8	historically	historically	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	associated	associate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	rank	rank	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **associate** | past · passive |  | purple |  |  |  | for the reason; with persons of high rank; historically *property* | vn amalgamate-22.2-2 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: subject=Patient with person=Co-Patient |

<!-- .note -->
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 {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It occurred naturally only in royal gardens

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:13-colours-mixing-the-colour-wheel-warm-and-cool:e4:o1:1
# text = It occurred naturally only in royal gardens
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	occurred	occur	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	naturally	naturally	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	royal	royal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	gardens	garden	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **occur** | past | It |  |  | royal gardens |  | naturally *property* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in garden=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was devised by an emperor for his exclusive use

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:13-colours-mixing-the-colour-wheel-warm-and-cool:e4:o2:1
# text = It was devised by an emperor for his exclusive use
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	devised	devise	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	emperor	emperor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:agent	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
9	exclusive	exclusive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	use	use	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **devise** | past · passive | a emperor | It |  |  |  | for his exclusive use | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |
| 2 | **use** |  | his *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom use «act transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its dye, obtained from sea snails, was exceedingly costly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:13-colours-mixing-the-colour-wheel-warm-and-cool:e4:o3:1
# text = Its dye, obtained from sea snails, was exceedingly costly
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	dye	dye	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
4	obtained	obtain	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	snails	snail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
10	exceedingly	exceedingly	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	costly	costly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **obtain** | participle |  | Its dye *not said here* |  |  |  | from sea snails | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent from snail=Source |
| 2 | **is** | past | Its dye |  |  |  |  | costly, exceedingly *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was the sole colour visible to monarchs and their courts

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:13-colours-mixing-the-colour-wheel-warm-and-cool:e4:o4:1
# text = It was the sole colour visible to monarchs and their courts
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	sole	sole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	visible	visible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	monarchs	monarch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	courts	court	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | It |  |  |  |  | to monarchs and monarchs's courts; visible *property* | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Colours: mixing, the colour wheel, war…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/arts/13-colours-mixing-the-colour-wheel-warm-and-cool/e3/)
- next →: [Painting: paints, brushes, mess and mi…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/arts/14-painting-paints-brushes-mess-and-mistakes/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Colours: mixing, the colour wheel, warm and cool](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/arts/13-colours-mixing-the-colour-wheel-warm-and-cool/)