---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — The people who were already there: wha… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the Americas at the time of European arrival in 1492? Exam question 1 of lesson 36 «The people who were already there: what colonisation did» of the geography course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of t
---

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# Exam question 1 · The people who were already there: what colonisation did

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the Americas at the time of European arrival in 1492?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** Americas

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 36 «The people who were already there: what colonisation did» 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/36-the-people-who-were-already-there/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:36-the-people-who-were-already-there:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the Americas at the time of European arrival in 1492?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	Americas	AMERICAS	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
11	at	at	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	European	European	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	arrival	arrival	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	_
17	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	1492	1492	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	16	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the Americas |  |  | time | of the following statements; accurately *property* | 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 -->
The continents were wholly uninhabited

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:36-the-people-who-were-already-there:e1:o1:1
# text = The continents were wholly uninhabited
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	continents	continent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	wholly	wholly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	uninhabited	uninhabited	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The continents were inhabited by tens of millions of persons in numerous nations

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:36-the-people-who-were-already-there:e1:o2:1
# text = The continents were inhabited by tens of millions of persons in numerous nations
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	continents	continent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	inhabited	inhabit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	tens	ten	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	millions	million	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	numerous	numerous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	nations	nation	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **inhabit** | past · passive | tens of millions of persons | the continents |  | numerous nations |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The continents were already Spanish possessions

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:36-the-people-who-were-already-there:e1:o3:1
# text = The continents were already Spanish possessions
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	continents	continent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	already	already	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	Spanish	Spanish	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	possessions	possession	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The continents were peopled solely by itinerant hunters numbering some hundreds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:36-the-people-who-were-already-there:e1:o4:1
# text = The continents were peopled solely by itinerant hunters numbering some hundreds
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	continents	continent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	peopled	people	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	solely	solely	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	itinerant	itinerant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	hunters	hunter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
9	numbering	number	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	acl	_	_
10	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	11	det	_	_
11	hundreds	hundred	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **people** | past · passive | itinerant hunters | the continents |  |  |  | solely *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **number** | gerund | itinerant hunters *not said here* | some hundreds |  |  |  |  | vn classify-29.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hundred=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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