--- title: Determine the base of the system of numeration employed by the Sumer… — Mesopotamia: the first cities and writ… · tree and pragmatics description: Determine the base of the system of numeration employed by the Sumerians, whereof traces persist in the measurement of time. Exam question 4 of lesson 3 «Mesopotamia: the first cities and writing» of the history course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing/e4/) [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/) / [Mesopotamia: the first cities and writ…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing/) / e4 # Exam question 4 · Mesopotamia: the first cities and writing Determine the base of the system of numeration employed by the Sumerians, whereof traces persist in the measurement of time. **Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, traces · **What happens:** determine, employ, persist, measure · **To what, where:** base, numeration, measurement, time This is exam question 4 of lesson 3 «Mesopotamia: the first cities and writing» 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/3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing/#e4). ## The question {#question} ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing:e4:1 # text = Determine the base of the system of numeration employed by the Sumerians, whereof traces persist in the measurement of time. 1 Determine determine VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 base base NOUN NN Number=Sing 1 obj _ _ 4 of of ADP IN _ 6 case _ _ 5 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 6 system system NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nmod _ _ 7 of of ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 8 numeration numeration NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 nmod _ _ 9 employed employ VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 8 acl _ _ 10 by by ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 11 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 12 Sumerians Sumerian PROPN NNPS Number=Plur 9 obl:agent _ SpaceAfter=No 13 , , PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ _ 14 whereof whereof ADV WRB PronType=Int 16 advmod _ _ 15 traces trace NOUN NNS Number=Plur 16 nsubj _ _ 16 persist persist VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 1 parataxis _ _ 17 in in ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 18 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 19 measurement measurement NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 obl _ _ 20 of of ADP IN _ 21 case _ _ 21 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 22 . . PUNCT . _ 1 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **determine** | imperative | you *not said here* | the base of the system of numeration | | | | | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent base=Topic | | 2 | **employ** | participle | | numeration *not said here* | | | | | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **persist** | present | traces | | | the measurement of time | | whereof *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in measurement=Location | | 4 | **measure** | | | time | | | | | nom measurement «act transitive»: of=patient | 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} Twelve ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing:e4:o1:1 # text = Twelve 1 Twelve twelve NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 2 {#o2} Ten ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing:e4:o2:1 # text = Ten 1 Ten ten NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3} Sixty ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing:e4:o3:1 # text = Sixty 1 Sixty sixty NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 4 {#o4} Twenty ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing:e4:o4:1 # text = Twenty 1 Twenty twenty NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. **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. - ← previous: [Mesopotamia: the first cities and writ…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing/e3/) - next →: [Mesopotamia: wheels, laws and empires, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires/t1/) - ↑ back to [Mesopotamia: the first cities and writing](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing/)