---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Mesopotamia: wheels, laws and empires · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the application of the said laws? Exam question 2 of lesson 4 «Mesopotamia: wheels, laws and empires» of the history course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's cho
---

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# Exam question 2 · Mesopotamia: wheels, laws and empires

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the application of the said laws?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** said laws · **What happens:** follow, characteris, say, apply · **To what, where:** application · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 4 «Mesopotamia: wheels, laws and empires» 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/4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the application of the said laws?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	application	application	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	amod	_	_
14	laws	law	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the application of the said laws |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **apply** |  | the said laws |  |  |  |  |  | nom application «act intransitive»: of=agent |

<!-- .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 wealthy were subject to the more severe penalties

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:e2:o1:1
# text = The wealthy were subject to the more severe penalties
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	wealthy	wealthy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	subject	subject	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
7	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	8	advmod	_	_
8	severe	severe	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	penalties	penalty	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the wealthy |  |  |  |  | to the severe penalties; subject *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
All persons were treated with complete equality

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:e2:o2:1
# text = All persons were treated with complete equality
1	All	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	treated	treat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	complete	complete	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	equality	equality	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **treat** | past · passive |  | all persons |  |  |  | with complete equality | vn equip-13.4.2-1 «NP V NP-Fulfilling PP»: subject=Recipient with equality=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Penalties were more severe for the poor and the enslaved than for the wealthy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:e2:o3:1
# text = Penalties were more severe for the poor and the enslaved than for the wealthy
1	Penalties	penalty	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	4	advmod	_	_
4	severe	severe	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	poor	poor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	enslaved	enslave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
11	than	than	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	for	for	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	wealthy	wealthy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Penalties |  |  |  |  | for the poor; severe *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **enslave** | participle | Penalties *not said here* |  |  |  |  | than the wealthy | vn subjugate-42.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No penalties whatsoever were prescribed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:e2:o4:1
# text = No penalties whatsoever were prescribed
1	No	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	2	det	_	_
2	penalties	penalty	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	whatsoever	whatsoever	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	2	acl:relcl	_	_
4	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	prescribed	prescribe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prescribe** | past · passive |  | no penalties |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- 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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