---
title: Ascertain the reason for which Julius Caesar was slain by senators i… — Rome: from a town on seven hills to a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which Julius Caesar was slain by senators in 44 BC. Exam question 4 of lesson 13 «Rome: from a town on seven hills to a republic» of the history course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wro
---

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# Exam question 4 · Rome: from a town on seven hills to a republic

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which Julius Caesar was slain by senators in 44 BC.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, senators · **What happens:** ascertain, slay · **To what, where:** reason, Julius, 44

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 13 «Rome: from a town on seven hills to a republic» of the history 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/history/13-rome-from-seven-hills-to-a-republic/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:13-rome-from-seven-hills-to-a-republic:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which Julius Caesar was slain by senators in 44 BC.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
6	Julius	Julius	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	Caesar	Caesar	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	flat	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	slain	slay	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
10	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	senators	senator	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	44	44	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	9	obl	_	_
14	BC	BC	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	nmod:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	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 reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **slay** | past · passive | senators | Julius |  | 44  BC |  | for the reason | vn murder-42.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |

<!-- .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 -->
He had surrendered all of Gaul to the enemy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:13-rome-from-seven-hills-to-a-republic:e4:o1:1
# text = He had surrendered all of Gaul to the enemy
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	surrendered	surrender	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Gaul	Gaul	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	enemy	enemy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **surrender** | past · perfect | He | all Gaul | the enemy |  |  |  | vn contribute-13.2-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent gaul=Theme to enemy=Recipient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He had abolished the month of July

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:13-rome-from-seven-hills-to-a-republic:e4:o2:1
# text = He had abolished the month of July
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	abolished	abolish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	month	month	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	July	July	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **abolish** | past · perfect | He |  |  |  | month |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They apprehended that he intended to make himself king

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:13-rome-from-seven-hills-to-a-republic:e4:o3:1
# text = They apprehended that he intended to make himself king
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	apprehended	apprehend	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
4	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	intended	intend	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	7	obj	_	_
9	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **apprehend** | past | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **intend** | past | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **make** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | he *not said here* | himself *= he* |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP NP»: agent=Asset himself=Beneficiary king=Product |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He had been defeated by Hannibal in Italy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:13-rome-from-seven-hills-to-a-republic:e4:o4:1
# text = He had been defeated by Hannibal in Italy
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	defeated	defeat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Hannibal	Hannibal	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	Italy	Italy	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **defeat** | past · perfect · passive | Hannibal | He |  | Italy |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- 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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