---
title: Why is it surprising that Ada Lovelace wrote a program in the 1840s? — Computers and the internet · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is it surprising that Ada Lovelace wrote a program in the 1840s? Test 3 · ★ of lesson 36 «Computers and the internet» 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 3 · ★ · Computers and the internet

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is it surprising that Ada Lovelace wrote a program in the 1840s?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** it, Ada · **What happens:** surprise, write · **To what, where:** program, 1840s

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★ of lesson 36 «Computers and the internet» 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/36-computers-and-the-internet/#t3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:36-computers-and-the-internet:t3:1
# text = Why is it surprising that Ada Lovelace wrote a program in the 1840s?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	surprising	surprise	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	Ada	Ada	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	Lovelace	Lovelace	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	flat	_	_
8	wrote	write	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	program	program	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	1840s	1840	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan|NumForm=Combi|NumType=Card	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **surprise** | present · progressive | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP-PRO-ARB»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **write** | past | Ada | a program |  | the 1840s |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent program=Theme in 1840=Destination |

<!-- .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 -->
She had a smartphone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:36-computers-and-the-internet:t3:o1:1
# text = She had a smartphone
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	smartphone	smartphone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | She | a smartphone |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent smartphone=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She lived in 2007

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:36-computers-and-the-internet:t3:o2:1
# text = She lived in 2007
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	lived	live	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	2007	2007	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **live** | past | She |  |  | 2007 |  |  | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in 2007=Location |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The machine was never finished and electronic computers came a century later

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:36-computers-and-the-internet:t3:o3:1
# text = The machine was never finished and electronic computers came a century later
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	machine	machine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	finished	finish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	electronic	electronic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	computers	computer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	century	century	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
12	later	late	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	9	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **finish** | past · passive |  | the machine |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: subject=Eventuality |
| 2 | **come** | past | electronic computers |  |  |  |  | late *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Programs were common then, and every rich family in London had a computer at home

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:36-computers-and-the-internet:t3:o4:1
# text = Programs were common then, and every rich family in London had a computer at home
1	Programs	program	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	common	common	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
7	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
8	rich	rich	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	London	London	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
12	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	computer	computer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
15	at	at	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Programs |  |  |  | then | common *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **have** | past | every rich family in London | a computer |  | home |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent computer=Patient |

<!-- div src -->

**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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- ← previous: [Computers and the internet, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/36-computers-and-the-internet/t2/)
- next →: [Computers and the internet, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/36-computers-and-the-internet/t4/)
- ↑ back to [Computers and the internet](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/36-computers-and-the-internet/)