---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the advantage of an alphabet over picture-writing? Exam question 4 of lesson 88 «Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, part 2: yo, so, sho, shi, and shu-ya, the sky-water» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dep
---

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# Exam question 4 · Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, part 2: yo, so…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the advantage of an alphabet over picture-writing?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** advantage

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 88 «Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, part 2: yo, so, sho, shi, and shu-ya, the sky-water» 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/88-justso-alphabet-2-shu-ya-sky-water/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:88-justso-alphabet-2-shu-ya-sky-water:e4:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the advantage of an alphabet over picture-writing?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	advantage	advantage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	alphabet	alphabet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	over	over	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	picture	picture	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the advantage of a alphabet over picture writing |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
Pictures show the thing more clearly and fully

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:88-justso-alphabet-2-shu-ya-sky-water:e4:o1:1
# text = Pictures show the thing more clearly and fully
1	Pictures	picture	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	show	show	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	6	advmod	_	_
6	clearly	clearly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	fully	fully	ADV	RB	_	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | Pictures | the thing |  |  |  | clearly *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent thing=Recipient |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A small number of sound-signs suffices to write any word whatsoever

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:88-justso-alphabet-2-shu-ya-sky-water:e4:o2:1
# text = A small number of sound-signs suffices to write any word whatsoever
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	signs	sign	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
8	suffices	suffice	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	write	write	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	12	det	_	_
12	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	whatsoever	whatsoever	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **suffice** | present | a small number of sound signs |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **write** | to-infinitive | a small number of sound signs *not said here* | any word |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent word=Recipient whatsoever=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fewer signs are quicker

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:88-justso-alphabet-2-shu-ya-sky-water:e4:o3:1
# text = Fewer signs are quicker
1	Fewer	few	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	amod	_	_
2	signs	sign	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	quicker	quick	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Fewer signs |  |  |  |  | quick *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Alphabets are prettier on a cave wall

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:88-justso-alphabet-2-shu-ya-sky-water:e4:o4:1
# text = Alphabets are prettier on a cave wall
1	Alphabets	alphabet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	prettier	pretty	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
4	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	cave	cave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Alphabets |  |  | a cave wall |  | pretty *property* | tree rules |

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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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/88-justso-alphabet-2-shu-ya-sky-water/e3/)
- next →: [Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/89-justso-alphabet-3-the-alphabet-all-complete/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Just So Stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, part 2: yo, so, sho, shi, and shu-ya, the sky-water](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/88-justso-alphabet-2-shu-ya-sky-water/)