---
title: Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning… — Just So Stories, How the First Letter… · tree and pragmatics
description: Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the invention of writing in the real world. Exam question 4 of lesson 84 «Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 1: a broken spear and a picture on birch-bark» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the
---

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# Exam question 4 · Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 1:…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the invention of writing in the real world.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, established facts · **What happens:** select, establish, concern, invent · **To what, where:** response, invention, writing

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 84 «Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 1: a broken spear and a picture on birch-bark» 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/84-justso-first-letter-1-a-broken-spear/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:84-justso-first-letter-1-a-broken-spear:e4:1
# text = Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the invention of writing in the real world.
1	Select	select	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	response	response	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	consistent	consistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	xcomp	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	established	establish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
8	facts	fact	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
9	concerning	concern	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	acl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	invention	invention	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	world	world	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **select** | imperative | you *not said here* | the response |  |  |  | consistent *property* | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent response=Theme |
| 2 | **establish** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 3 | **concern** | gerund | the established facts *not said here* | the invention of writing in the real world |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus invention=Experiencer |
| 4 | **invent** |  |  | writing in the real world |  |  |  |  | nom invention «cognition transitive»: of=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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It arose about five thousand years ago, first in Mesopotamia and Egypt

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:84-justso-first-letter-1-a-broken-spear:e4:o1:1
# text = It arose about five thousand years ago, first in Mesopotamia and Egypt
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	arose	arise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	about	about	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	compound	_	_
5	thousand	thousand	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl:unmarked	_	_
7	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	2	advmod	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	Mesopotamia	Mesopotamia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	Egypt	Egypt	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **arise** | past | It |  |  | Mesopotamia and Egypt |  | ago, first *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in mesopotamia=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It arose about three thousand years ago, first in China and India

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:84-justso-first-letter-1-a-broken-spear:e4:o2:1
# text = It arose about three thousand years ago, first in China and India
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	arose	arise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	about	about	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	compound	_	_
5	thousand	thousand	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl:unmarked	_	_
7	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	2	advmod	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	China	China	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	India	India	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **arise** | past | It |  |  | China and India |  | ago, first *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in china=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It arose about five thousand years ago, first in Mesopotamia and Egypt, and then spread to every continent

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:84-justso-first-letter-1-a-broken-spear:e4:o3:1
# text = It arose about five thousand years ago, first in Mesopotamia and Egypt, and then spread to every continent
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	arose	arise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	about	about	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	compound	_	_
5	thousand	thousand	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl:unmarked	_	_
7	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	2	advmod	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	Mesopotamia	Mesopotamia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	Egypt	Egypt	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
16	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	17	advmod	_	_
17	spread	spread	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
18	to	to	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	20	det	_	_
20	continent	continent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **arise** | past | It |  |  | Mesopotamia and Egypt |  | ago, first *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in mesopotamia=Location |
| 2 | **spread** | past |  |  |  |  | then | to every continent | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It arose about fifty thousand years ago, first in caves in Europe and later in Mesopotamia and Egypt

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:84-justso-first-letter-1-a-broken-spear:e4:o4:1
# text = It arose about fifty thousand years ago, first in caves in Europe and later in Mesopotamia and Egypt
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	arose	arise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	about	about	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	fifty	fifty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	compound	_	_
5	thousand	thousand	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl:unmarked	_	_
7	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	11	advmod	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	caves	cave	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	Europe	Europe	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
15	later	late	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	17	advmod	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	Mesopotamia	Mesopotamia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	conj	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
19	Egypt	Egypt	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **arise** | past | It |  |  | caves in Europe and Mesopotamia and Egypt |  | ago *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in cave=Location |

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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: [Just So Stories, How the First Letter…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/84-justso-first-letter-1-a-broken-spear/e3/)
- next →: [Just So Stories, How the First Letter…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/85-justso-first-letter-2-the-whole-tribe-comes/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 1: a broken spear and a picture on birch-bark](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/84-justso-first-letter-1-a-broken-spear/)