---
title: Identify the principal reason for which spices commanded exceptional… — The spice trade and the Indian Ocean · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which spices commanded exceptionally high prices in medieval Europe. Exam question 1 of lesson 29 «The spice trade and the Indian Ocean» of the geography course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mov
---

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# Exam question 1 · The spice trade and the Indian Ocean

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which spices commanded exceptionally high prices in medieval Europe.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, spices · **What happens:** identify, command · **To what, where:** principal reason, high prices, medieval Europe · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 29 «The spice trade and the Indian Ocean» of the geography 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/geography/29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which spices commanded exceptionally high prices in medieval Europe.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obl	_	_
7	spices	spice	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	commanded	command	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
9	exceptionally	exceptionally	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	prices	price	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	medieval	medieval	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	Europe	Europe	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **command** | past | spices | high prices |  | medieval Europe |  | for the principal reason | vn supervision-95.2.2-1 «NP V NP.theme PP.predicate»: agent=Agent price=Theme in europe=Eventuality |

<!-- .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 -->
They were manufactured exclusively in the workshops of Venice

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean:e1:o1:1
# text = They were manufactured exclusively in the workshops of Venice
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	manufactured	manufacture	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	exclusively	exclusively	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	workshops	workshop	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	Venice	Venice	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **manufacture** | past · passive |  | They |  | the workshops of Venice |  | exclusively *property* | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: subject=Result |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were cultivated solely in tropical Asia and passed through numerous intermediaries

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean:e1:o2:1
# text = They were cultivated solely in tropical Asia and passed through numerous intermediaries
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	cultivated	cultivate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	solely	solely	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	tropical	tropical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	Asia	Asia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	passed	pass	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
10	through	through	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	numerous	numerous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	intermediaries	intermediary	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cultivate** | past · passive |  | They |  | tropical Asia |  | solely *property* | vn preparing-26.3-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Product |
| 2 | **pass** | participle |  |  |  | numerous intermediaries |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme through intermediary=Location |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were cultivated throughout Europe in negligible quantities by monastic houses alone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean:e1:o3:1
# text = They were cultivated throughout Europe in negligible quantities by monastic houses alone
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	cultivated	cultivate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	throughout	throughout	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	Europe	Europe	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	negligible	negligible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	quantities	quantity	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	monastic	monastic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	houses	house	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
12	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cultivate** | past · passive | monastic houses | They |  | negligible quantities | throughout Europe | alone *property* | vn preparing-26.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Product |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Their consumption was restricted by law to the clergy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean:e1:o4:1
# text = Their consumption was restricted by law to the clergy
1	Their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	consumption	consumption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	restricted	restrict	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	clergy	clergy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **restrict** | past · passive | law | Their consumption | the clergy |  |  |  | vn limit-76 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Causer subject=Patient to clergy=Goal |
| 2 | **consume** |  | Their *= they* |  |  |  |  |  | nom consumption «act transitive»: poss=agent |

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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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