---
title: My mate says ships just sailed straight there and straight back. Why… — The Atlantic routes and the slave trade · tree and pragmatics
description: My mate says ships just sailed straight there and straight back. Why did they take different routes? Test 1 · ★ of lesson 30 «The Atlantic routes and the slave trade» of the geography course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's 
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/30-the-atlantic-routes-and-the-slave-trade/t1/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Geography](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/) / [The Atlantic routes and the slave trade](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/30-the-atlantic-routes-and-the-slave-trade/) / t1

# Test 1 · ★ · The Atlantic routes and the slave trade

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
My mate says ships just sailed straight there and straight back. Why did they take different routes?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** mate, ships · **What happens:** say, sail, take · **To what, where:** different routes · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★ of lesson 30 «The Atlantic routes and the slave trade» 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/30-the-atlantic-routes-and-the-slave-trade/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* My mate says ships just sailed straight there and straight back.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:30-the-atlantic-routes-and-the-slave-trade:t1:1
# text = My mate says ships just sailed straight there and straight back.
1	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	ships	ship	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
5	just	just	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	sailed	sail	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
7	straight	straight	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	6	advmod	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	straight	straight	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	back	back	ADV	RB	_	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | My mate |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **sail** | past | ships |  |  | there |  |  | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2-1 «NP V PP»: 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:* Why did they take different routes?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:30-the-atlantic-routes-and-the-slave-trade:t1:2
# text = Why did they take different routes?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	routes	route	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | past · do-support | ships *= ship* | different routes |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent route=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The straight route was too short

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:30-the-atlantic-routes-and-the-slave-trade:t1:o1:1
# text = The straight route was too short
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	straight	straight	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	route	route	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	too	too	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the straight route |  |  |  |  | short *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pirates guarded the straight route in both directions all year

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:30-the-atlantic-routes-and-the-slave-trade:t1:o2:1
# text = Pirates guarded the straight route in both directions all year
1	Pirates	pirate	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	guarded	guard	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	straight	straight	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	route	route	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
8	directions	direction	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
9	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	det	_	_
10	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **guard** | past | Pirates | the straight route |  | both directions | year |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent route=Beneficiary |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Captains liked to see new places

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:30-the-atlantic-routes-and-the-slave-trade:t1:o3:1
# text = Captains liked to see new places
1	Captains	captain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	liked	like	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	places	place	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **like** | past | Captains |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **see** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Captains *not said here* | new places |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer place=Stimulus |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They followed the trade winds out and the westerlies back

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:30-the-atlantic-routes-and-the-slave-trade:t1:o4:1
# text = They followed the trade winds out and the westerlies back
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	followed	follow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	trade	trade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	winds	wind	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
6	out	out	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	westerlies	westerly	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	conj	_	_
10	back	back	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | past | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **wind out** | present | the trade |  |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [The spice trade and the Indian Ocean, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/29-the-spice-trade-and-the-indian-ocean/e4/)
- next →: [The Atlantic routes and the slave trade, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/30-the-atlantic-routes-and-the-slave-trade/t2/)
- ↑ back to [The Atlantic routes and the slave trade](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/geography/30-the-atlantic-routes-and-the-slave-trade/)