---
title: From what observation did the Emperor derive the principle of the fi… — Myths and Legends of China, The Shinan… · tree and pragmatics
description: From what observation did the Emperor derive the principle of the first boat? Exam question 3 of lesson 1349 «Myths and Legends of China, The Shinansha, or the South Pointing Carriage, part 9: Kotei beats the fog and crosses the river in boats made after a spider's leaf» of the books course of Mova'
---

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# Exam question 3 · Myths and Legends of China, The Shinansha, or the South Po…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
From what observation did the Emperor derive the principle of the first boat?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** observation, Emperor · **What happens:** do, derive · **To what, where:** principle

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1349 «Myths and Legends of China, The Shinansha, or the South Pointing Carriage, part 9: Kotei beats the fog and crosses the river in boats made after a spider's leaf» of the books 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/books/1349-pg4018-part9/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1349-pg4018-part9:e3:1
# text = From what observation did the Emperor derive the principle of the first boat?
1	From	from	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
3	observation	observation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Emperor	Emperor	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	derive	derive	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	principle	principle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	13	amod	_	_
13	boat	boat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past | observation |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **derive** | present | the Emperor | the principle of the first boat |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location principle=Theme |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a leaf falling into a stream near the bank

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1349-pg4018-part9:e3:o1:1
# text = a leaf falling into a stream near the bank
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	leaf	leaf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	falling	fall	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	into	into	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	stream	stream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	near	near	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	bank	bank	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fall** | gerund | a leaf *not said here* |  |  | a stream |  | near the bank | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme near bank=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a beetle floating on a dry branch

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1349-pg4018-part9:e3:o2:1
# text = a beetle floating on a dry branch
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	beetle	beetle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	floating	float	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	dry	dry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	branch	branch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **float** | gerund | a beetle *not said here* |  |  | a dry branch |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on branch=Trajectory |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a spider skimming the whole width of the pond on a leaf in the wind

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1349-pg4018-part9:e3:o3:1
# text = a spider skimming the whole width of the pond on a leaf in the wind
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	spider	spider	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	skimming	skim	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	width	width	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	pond	pond	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	on	on	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	leaf	leaf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	wind	wind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **skim** | gerund | a spider *not said here* | the whole width of the pond |  | a leaf |  | in the wind | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1 «NP V NP.source»: agent=Agent width=Source |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a spider crossing a pond on a floating leaf

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1349-pg4018-part9:e3:o4:1
# text = a spider crossing a pond on a floating leaf
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	spider	spider	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	crossing	cross	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	pond	pond	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	floating	float	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	amod	_	_
9	leaf	leaf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cross** | gerund | a spider *not said here* | a pond |  | a floating leaf |  |  | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pond=Patient |
| 2 | **float** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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**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: [Myths and Legends of China, The Shinan…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1349-pg4018-part9/e2/)
- next →: [Myths and Legends of China, The Shinan…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1349-pg4018-part9/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Myths and Legends of China, The Shinansha, or the South Pointing Carriage, part 9: Kotei beats the fog and crosses the river in boats made after a spider's leaf](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1349-pg4018-part9/)