---
title: Ascertain the significance of the Mabo decision rendered by the High… — The people who were already there: wha… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the significance of the Mabo decision rendered by the High Court of Australia in 1992. Exam question 3 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 the question and of ea
---

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# Exam question 3 · The people who were already there: what colonisation did

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the significance of the Mabo decision rendered by the High Court of Australia in 1992.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, render · **To what, where:** significance, Mabo decision, 1992

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 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/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:36-the-people-who-were-already-there:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the significance of the Mabo decision rendered by the High Court of Australia in 1992.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	significance	significance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	Mabo	Mabo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	decision	decision	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
8	rendered	render	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	High	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	Court	Court	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	obl:agent	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	Australia	Australia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	1992	1992	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the significance of the Mabo decision |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent significance=Topic |
| 2 | **render** | participle |  | the Mabo decision *not said here* |  | 1992 |  |  | vn give-13.1 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
It ratified the Treaty of Waitangi

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:36-the-people-who-were-already-there:e3:o1:1
# text = It ratified the Treaty of Waitangi
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	ratified	ratify	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Treaty	Treaty	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Waitangi	Waitangi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ratify** | past | It | the Treaty of Waitangi |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It rejected the doctrine that the land had belonged to no one

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:36-the-people-who-were-already-there:e3:o2:1
# text = It rejected the doctrine that the land had belonged to no one
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	rejected	reject	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	doctrine	doctrine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	belonged	belong	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	12	det	_	_
12	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reject** | past | It | the doctrine |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent doctrine=Theme |
| 2 | **belong** | past · perfect | the land |  | no one |  |  |  | vn attend-107.4-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It established the Commonwealth of Australia

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:36-the-people-who-were-already-there:e3:o3:1
# text = It established the Commonwealth of Australia
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	established	establish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Commonwealth	Commonwealth	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Australia	Australia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **establish** | past | It | the Commonwealth of Australia |  |  |  |  | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent commonwealth=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It abolished the Australian monarchy and established a republic

```conllu
# sent_id = question:geography:36-the-people-who-were-already-there:e3:o4:1
# text = It abolished the Australian monarchy and established a republic
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	abolished	abolish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	Australian	Australian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	monarchy	monarchy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	established	establish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	republic	republic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **abolish** | past | It | the Australian monarchy |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent monarchy=Theme |
| 2 | **establish** | past |  | a republic |  |  |  |  | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent republic=Patient |

<!-- 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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