---
title: Why did many doctors in 1847 laugh at Semmelweis? — The microscopic world: bacteria, good… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why did many doctors in 1847 laugh at Semmelweis? Test 6 of lesson 257 «The microscopic world: bacteria, good and bad» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was right.
---

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# Test 6 · The microscopic world: bacteria, good and bad

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why did many doctors in 1847 laugh at Semmelweis?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **What happens:** do, laugh · **To what, where:** many doctors, 1847, Semmelweis

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 of lesson 257 «The microscopic world: bacteria, good and bad» of the biology 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/257-the-microscopic-world-bacteria-good-and-bad/#t6).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:257-the-microscopic-world-bacteria-good-and-bad:t6:1
# text = Why did many doctors in 1847 laugh at Semmelweis?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	_
2	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
3	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	doctors	doctor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	1847	1847	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	2	obl	_	_
7	laugh	laugh	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	Semmelweis	Semmelweis	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past |  | many doctors |  | 1847 |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent doctor=Eventuality |
| 2 | **laugh** | present |  |  |  | Semmelweis |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nobody yet knew about germs, so handwashing seemed pointless

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:257-the-microscopic-world-bacteria-good-and-bad:t6:o1:1
# text = Nobody yet knew about germs, so handwashing seemed pointless
1	Nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	3	nsubj	_	_
2	yet	yet	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	about	about	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	germs	germ	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	so	so	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
8	handwashing	handwashing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	seemed	seem	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
10	pointless	pointless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | past | Nobody |  |  |  | yet | about germs | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer about germ=Stimulus |
| 2 | **seem** | past | handwashing |  |  |  |  | pointless *property* | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His own hands were too dirty for anybody to listen

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:257-the-microscopic-world-bacteria-good-and-bad:t6:o2:1
# text = His own hands were too dirty for anybody to listen
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
4	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	too	too	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	dirty	dirty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	anybody	anybody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	6	obl	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	listen	listen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | His own hands |  |  |  |  | for anybody; dirty *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **listen** | to-infinitive | His own hands *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He wanted them to wash their hands in warm milk instead of in water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:257-the-microscopic-world-bacteria-good-and-bad:t6:o3:1
# text = He wanted them to wash their hands in warm milk instead of in water
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	wash	wash	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
6	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	warm	warm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	milk	milk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
11	instead	instead	ADV	RB	ExtPos=ADP	14	case	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	fixed	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | past | He | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **wash** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | them *= they* *not said here* | their hands |  | warm milk |  | instead water | vn floss-41.2.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hand=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was only a child

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:257-the-microscopic-world-bacteria-good-and-bad:t6:o4:1
# text = He was only a child
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | He | a child |  |  |  |  | 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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