---
title: Ascertain the means by which James Cook diminished the incidence of… — Explorers: Cook and the Pacific · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the means by which James Cook diminished the incidence of scurvy among his crew. Exam question 3 of lesson 28 «Explorers: Cook and the Pacific» 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 wron
---

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# Exam question 3 · Explorers: Cook and the Pacific

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the means by which James Cook diminished the incidence of scurvy among his crew.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, the, James · **What happens:** ascertain, mean, diminish · **To what, where:** incidence · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 28 «Explorers: Cook and the Pacific» 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/28-explorers-cook-and-the-pacific/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:28-explorers-cook-and-the-pacific:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the means by which James Cook diminished the incidence of scurvy among his crew.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obl	_	_
6	James	James	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	Cook	Cook	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	flat	_	_
8	diminished	diminish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	incidence	incidence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	scurvy	scurvy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
13	among	among	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	crew	crew	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **mean** | present | the |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **diminish** | past | James | the incidence of scurvy |  |  |  | among James's crew | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Causer incidence=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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The prohibition of all sleep at sea

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:28-explorers-cook-and-the-pacific:e3:o1:1
# text = The prohibition of all sleep at sea
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	prohibition	prohibition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	det	_	_
5	sleep	sleep	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prohibit** |  |  | all sleep at sea |  |  |  |  | nom prohibition «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The reduction of the crew to ten men

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:28-explorers-cook-and-the-pacific:e3:o2:1
# text = The reduction of the crew to ten men
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	reduction	reduction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	crew	crew	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	ten	ten	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
8	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reduce** |  |  | the crew |  |  |  | to ten men | nom reduction «act transitive»: of=patient to=obl |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The provision of fresh food and sauerkraut

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:28-explorers-cook-and-the-pacific:e3:o3:1
# text = The provision of fresh food and sauerkraut
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	provision	provision	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	fresh	fresh	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	sauerkraut	sauerkraut	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **provide** |  | fresh food and sauerkraut |  |  |  |  |  | nom provision «communication intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The consumption of sea water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:28-explorers-cook-and-the-pacific:e3:o4:1
# text = The consumption of sea water
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	consumption	consumption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **consume** |  |  | sea water |  |  |  |  | nom consumption «act transitive»: of=patient |

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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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