---
title: lol why didn't they just use paper? — Mesopotamia: the first cities and writ… · tree and pragmatics
description: lol why didn't they just use paper? Test 2 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 and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 2 · Mesopotamia: the first cities and writing

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
lol why didn't they just use paper?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** they · **What happens:** use · **To what, where:** paper

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 of lesson 3 «Mesopotamia: the first cities and writing» 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/3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing:t2:1
# text = lol why didn't they just use paper?
1	lol	lol	INTJ	UH	_	2	discourse	_	_
2	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
3	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
5	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	just	just	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	use	use	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
8	paper	paper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | present | they | paper |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent paper=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 -->
They thought paper was too boring

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing:t2:o1:1
# text = They thought paper was too boring
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	thought	think	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	paper	paper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	too	too	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	boring	boring	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | past | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past | paper |  |  |  |  | boring *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They had no paper, but clay was everywhere

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing:t2:o2:1
# text = They had no paper, but clay was everywhere
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	paper	paper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	clay	clay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	everywhere	everywhere	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | They | no paper |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent paper=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | past |  |  |  |  |  | everywhere *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They used paper but it all burned

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing:t2:o3:1
# text = They used paper but it all burned
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	paper	paper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	all	all	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	burned	burn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | past | They | paper |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent paper=Patient |
| 2 | **burn** | past | paper |  |  |  |  | all *property* | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Paper was banned by the kings, who hated it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing:t2:o4:1
# text = Paper was banned by the kings, who hated it
1	Paper	paper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	banned	ban	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	kings	king	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
9	hated	hate	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ban** | past · passive | the kings | Paper |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer subject=Theme |
| 2 | **hate** | past | the kings | Paper |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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