--- title: If you found wedge-shaped marks on an old piece of clay, what are th… — Mesopotamia: the first cities and writ… · tree and pragmatics description: If you found wedge-shaped marks on an old piece of clay, what are they probably? Test 9 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. --- [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/t9/) [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/) / t9 # Test 9 · Mesopotamia: the first cities and writing If you found wedge-shaped marks on an old piece of clay, what are they probably? **Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, marks · **What happens:** find, shape, be · **To what, where:** shaped marks, old piece This is test 9 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/#t9). ## The question {#question} ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing:t9:1 # text = If you found wedge-shaped marks on an old piece of clay, what are they probably? 1 If if SCONJ IN _ 3 mark _ _ 2 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 3 nsubj _ _ 3 found find VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 wedge wedge NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 5 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 4 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 6 shaped shape VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 7 amod _ _ 7 marks mark NOUN NNS Number=Plur 3 obj _ _ 8 on on ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 9 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 11 det _ _ 10 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 11 amod _ _ 11 piece piece NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 obl _ _ 12 of of ADP IN _ 13 case _ _ 13 clay clay NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 15 punct _ _ 15 what what PRON WP PronType=Rel 11 conj _ _ 16 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 18 cop _ _ 17 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 18 nsubj _ _ 18 probably probably ADV RB _ 15 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 19 ? ? PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **find** | past | you | shaped marks | | a old piece of clay | | | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mark=Topic | | 2 | **shape** | participle | | | | | | | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset | | 3 | **is** | present | marks *= mark* | | | | | probably *property* | tree rules | 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} Bird footprints by chance ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing:t9:o1:1 # text = Bird footprints by chance 1 Bird bird NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 compound _ _ 2 footprints footprint NOUN NNS Number=Plur 0 root _ _ 3 by by ADP IN _ 4 case _ _ 4 chance chance NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 nmod _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 2 {#o2} Hieroglyphs from Egypt ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing:t9:o2:1 # text = Hieroglyphs from Egypt 1 Hieroglyphs hieroglyph NOUN NNS Number=Plur 0 root _ _ 2 from from ADP IN _ 3 case _ _ 3 Egypt Egypt PROPN NNP Number=Sing 1 nmod _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3} Cuneiform writing ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing:t9:o3:1 # text = Cuneiform writing 1 Cuneiform cuneiform NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 compound _ _ 2 writing writing NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ ``` The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence. ### Option 4 {#o4} Chinese characters ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing:t9:o4:1 # text = Chinese characters 1 Chinese Chinese ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 2 amod _ _ 2 characters character NOUN NNS Number=Plur 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…, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing/t8/) - next →: [Mesopotamia: the first cities and writ…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing/t10/) - ↑ back to [Mesopotamia: the first cities and writing](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing/)