---
title: «how do they know the sahara was green, were they there lol» Which i… — Deserts · tree and pragmatics
description: «how do they know the sahara was green, were they there lol» Which is the best answer? Test 6 of lesson 18 «Deserts» of the geography course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 6 · Deserts

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«how do they know the sahara was green, were they there lol» Which is the best answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** they, sahara · **What happens:** know, be · **To what, where:** best answer · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 of lesson 18 «Deserts» 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/18-deserts/#t6).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:18-deserts:t6:1
# text = «how do they know the sahara was green, were they there lol» Which is the best answer?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
3	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	sahara	sahara	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	green	green	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	ccomp	_	_
14	lol	lol	INTJ	UH	_	20	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	14	punct	_	_
16	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	20	nsubj	_	_
17	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	cop	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	20	amod	_	_
20	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** *in a quote* | present · do-support | they |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | past | the sahara |  |  |  |  | green *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** *in a quote* | past | they |  |  |  |  | there *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **be** *speech: assert* | present |  | the best answer |  |  |  |  | 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 -->
A film from that time shows it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:18-deserts:t6:o1:1
# text = A film from that time shows it
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	film	film	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	det	_	_
5	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | a film from that time | it |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent it=Recipient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The camels told them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:18-deserts:t6:o2:1
# text = The camels told them
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	camels	camel	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	iobj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | the camels |  | them *= they* |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent they=Recipient |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rock paintings of swimmers and cattle, and old lake beds, show it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:18-deserts:t6:o3:1
# text = Rock paintings of swimmers and cattle, and old lake beds, show it
1	Rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	paintings	painting	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	swimmers	swimmer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	cattle	cattle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
9	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
10	lake	lake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	beds	bed	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
13	show	show	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
14	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | Rock paintings of swimmers and cattle and old lake beds | it |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent it=Recipient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nobody knows, it is only a guess made from looking at the sand today

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:18-deserts:t6:o4:1
# text = Nobody knows, it is only a guess made from looking at the sand today
1	Nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	2	nsubj	_	_
2	knows	know	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
6	only	only	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	guess	guess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	ccomp	_	_
9	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl	_	_
10	from	from	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
11	looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	advcl	_	_
12	at	at	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	sand	sand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
15	today	today	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | present | Nobody |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is a** | present | it | a guess |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **make** | participle |  | a guess *not said here* |  |  | today |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
| 4 | **look** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | at the sand | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at sand=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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