---
title: Mia asks why Thailand was never a colony while its neighbours were.… — East, South and South-East Asia: count… · tree and pragmatics
description: Mia asks why Thailand was never a colony while its neighbours were. Which is the best answer? Test 8 of lesson 11 «East, South and South-East Asia: countries and capitals» of the geography course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mo
---

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# Test 8 · East, South and South-East Asia: countries and capitals

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mia asks why Thailand was never a colony while its neighbours were. Which is the best answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Mia, Thailand, neighbours · **What happens:** ask, not be, be · **To what, where:** colony, best answer · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 of lesson 11 «East, South and South-East Asia: countries and capitals» of the geography 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/geography/11-east-south-and-south-east-asia/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Mia asks why Thailand was never a colony while its neighbours were.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:11-east-south-and-south-east-asia:t8:1
# text = Mia asks why Thailand was never a colony while its neighbours were.
1	Mia	Mia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	asks	ask	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
4	Thailand	Thailand	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
6	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	colony	colony	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	ccomp	_	_
9	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
10	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	neighbours	neighbour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj	_	_
12	were	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | present | Mia |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **not** **is a** | past | Thailand | a colony |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** | past | colony's neighbours |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Which is the best answer?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:11-east-south-and-south-east-asia:t8:2
# text = Which is the best answer?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | the best answer |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Thailand had no coast for ships to reach

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:11-east-south-and-south-east-asia:t8:o1:1
# text = Thailand had no coast for ships to reach
1	Thailand	Thailand	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	coast	coast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	ships	ship	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	reach	reach	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | Thailand | no coast |  |  |  | for ships | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent coast=Patient |
| 2 | **reach** | to-infinitive | Thailand *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Thailand was too cold for Europeans

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:11-east-south-and-south-east-asia:t8:o2:1
# text = Thailand was too cold for Europeans
1	Thailand	Thailand	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	too	too	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Europeans	European	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Thailand |  |  |  |  | for Europeans; cold *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Thailand lay between British and French lands and kept its freedom by clever diplomacy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:11-east-south-and-south-east-asia:t8:o3:1
# text = Thailand lay between British and French lands and kept its freedom by clever diplomacy
1	Thailand	Thailand	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	lay	lie	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	between	between	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	British	British	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	French	French	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
7	lands	land	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	kept	keep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	freedom	freedom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	by	by	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	diplomacy	diplomacy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lie** | past | Thailand |  |  | British lands |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent between land=Location |
| 2 | **keep** | past | Thailand *not said here* | its freedom |  |  |  | by clever diplomacy | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent freedom=Theme by diplomacy=Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Thailand was already part of Britain, so France could not take it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:11-east-south-and-south-east-asia:t8:o4:1
# text = Thailand was already part of Britain, so France could not take it
1	Thailand	Thailand	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	already	already	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Britain	Britain	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
9	France	France	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
10	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
11	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
12	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	parataxis	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | Thailand | part |  |  |  | of Britain | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **take** | could | France | part |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=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.

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