---
title: Why might a town spend over a hundred years building one cathedral? — Castles, knights and cathedrals · tree and pragmatics
description: Why might a town spend over a hundred years building one cathedral? Test 10 of lesson 21 «Castles, knights and cathedrals» 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 right.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/21-castles-knights-and-cathedrals/t10/)

<!-- 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/) / [History](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/) / [Castles, knights and cathedrals](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/21-castles-knights-and-cathedrals/) / t10

# Test 10 · Castles, knights and cathedrals

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why might a town spend over a hundred years building one cathedral?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** town · **What happens:** spend, build · **To what, where:** one cathedral

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 of lesson 21 «Castles, knights and cathedrals» of the history 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/history/21-castles-knights-and-cathedrals/#t10).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:21-castles-knights-and-cathedrals:t10:1
# text = Why might a town spend over a hundred years building one cathedral?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	spend	spend	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	over	over	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	hundred	hundred	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
10	building	build	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
11	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	nummod	_	_
12	cathedral	cathedral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spend** | might | a town |  |  |  | year |  | vn consume-66-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **build** | gerund | a town *not said here* | one cathedral |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset cathedral=Product |

<!-- .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 -->
The plans were lost every year in fires

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:21-castles-knights-and-cathedrals:t10:o1:1
# text = The plans were lost every year in fires
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	plans	plan	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl:unmarked	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	fires	fire	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | past · passive |  | the plans |  | fires | year |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stone could only be cut in the middle of winter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:21-castles-knights-and-cathedrals:t10:o2:1
# text = Stone could only be cut in the middle of winter
1	Stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	cut	cut	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	middle	middle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut** | could · passive |  | Stone |  | the middle of winter |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Builders were paid only once a century

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:21-castles-knights-and-cathedrals:t10:o3:1
# text = Builders were paid only once a century
1	Builders	builder	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	paid	pay	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	7	advmod	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	century	century	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pay** | past · passive |  | Builders |  |  | century |  | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Asset |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was huge, built by hand, and money came slowly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:21-castles-knights-and-cathedrals:t10:o4:1
# text = It was huge, built by hand, and money came slowly
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	huge	huge	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	built	build	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
12	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | It |  |  |  |  | huge *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **build** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | by hand | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 3 | **come** | past | money |  |  |  |  | slowly *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP 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: [Castles, knights and cathedrals, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/21-castles-knights-and-cathedrals/t9/)
- next →: [Castles, knights and cathedrals, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/21-castles-knights-and-cathedrals/t11/)
- ↑ back to [Castles, knights and cathedrals](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/21-castles-knights-and-cathedrals/)