---
title: teacher in a cartoon says columbus proved the earth was round. fix it — Explorers: around Africa and Columbus · tree and pragmatics
description: teacher in a cartoon says columbus proved the earth was round. fix it Test 1 · ★ of lesson 26 «Explorers: around Africa and Columbus» 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 wrong.
---

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# Test 1 · ★ · Explorers: around Africa and Columbus

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
teacher in a cartoon says columbus proved the earth was round. fix it

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** teacher, columbus, earth · **What happens:** say, prove, be, fix · **To what, where:** earth · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★ of lesson 26 «Explorers: around Africa and Columbus» 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/26-explorers-around-africa-and-columbus/#t1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:26-explorers-around-africa-and-columbus:t1:1
# text = teacher in a cartoon says columbus proved the earth was round. fix it
1	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
5	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	columbus	columbus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	proved	prove	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	earth	earth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
11	round	round	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
13	fix	fix	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	ccomp	_	_
14	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | teacher in a cartoon |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **prove** | past | columbus |  |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** | past | the earth |  |  |  |  | round *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **fix** | infinitive |  | earth |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent it=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 -->
No, he proved it was flat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:26-explorers-around-africa-and-columbus:t1:o1:1
# text = No, he proved it was flat
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	proved	prove	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	flat	flat	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prove** | past | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past | it |  |  |  |  | flat *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Educated people already knew; he was wrong about its size

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:26-explorers-around-africa-and-columbus:t1:o2:1
# text = Educated people already knew; he was wrong about its size
1	Educated	educate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	amod	_	_
2	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	already	already	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	ccomp	_	_
9	about	about	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **educate** *speech: other* | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn advise-37.9 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **know** | past | Educated people |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | about its size; wrong *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, Magellan proved it was square, and Columbus agreed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:26-explorers-around-africa-and-columbus:t1:o3:1
# text = No, Magellan proved it was square, and Columbus agreed
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	Magellan	Magellan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	proved	prove	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	square	square	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	Columbus	Columbus	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	agreed	agree	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prove** | past | Magellan |  |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past | it |  |  |  |  | square *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **agree** *speech: agree* | past | Columbus |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, he proved it in 1492

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:26-explorers-around-africa-and-columbus:t1:o4:1
# text = Yes, he proved it in 1492
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	proved	prove	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	1492	1492	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prove** | past | he | it |  | 1492 |  |  | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=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.

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