---
title: why's pepper so cheap now if it was like gold back then — The spice trade and the Indian Ocean · tree and pragmatics
description: why's pepper so cheap now if it was like gold back then Test 8 · ★ 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; Mova's choice was right.
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · The spice trade and the Indian Ocean

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
why's pepper so cheap now if it was like gold back then

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** pepper · **What happens:** be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 29 «The spice trade and the Indian Ocean» 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/29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean:t8:1
# text = why's pepper so cheap now if it was like gold back then
1	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	pepper	pepper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
4	so	so	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	cheap	cheap	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	appos	_	_
6	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advmod	_	_
7	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
10	like	like	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	gold	gold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
12	back	back	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
13	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	1	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | pepper |  |  |  |  | like gold | 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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is grown and shipped in huge amounts now

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean:t8:o1:1
# text = It is grown and shipped in huge amounts now
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	grown	grow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	shipped	ship	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	huge	huge	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	amounts	amount	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
9	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | present · passive |  | It |  |  | now |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **ship** | participle |  |  |  | huge amounts |  |  | vn send-11.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is made in factories from sand

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean:t8:o2:1
# text = It is made in factories from sand
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	factories	factory	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	sand	sand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | present · passive |  | It |  | factories from sand |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Old pepper was a different spice

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean:t8:o3:1
# text = Old pepper was a different spice
1	Old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	pepper	pepper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	spice	spice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | Old pepper | a different spice |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pepper has lost almost all its taste over the years

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean:t8:o4:1
# text = Pepper has lost almost all its taste over the years
1	Pepper	pepper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	almost	almost	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	7	det:predet	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	taste	taste	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
8	over	over	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | present · perfect · passive |  | Pepper |  |  | year |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **taste** |  | Pepper |  |  |  |  |  | nom taste «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- div src -->

**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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