--- title: Ascertain the principal reason for which the merchants of Mesopotami… — Mesopotamia: wheels, laws and empires · tree and pragmatics description: Ascertain the principal reason for which the merchants of Mesopotamia engaged in long-distance trade. Exam question 3 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 --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires/e3/) [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: wheels, laws and empires](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires/) / e3 # Exam question 3 · Mesopotamia: wheels, laws and empires Ascertain the principal reason for which the merchants of Mesopotamia engaged in long-distance trade. **Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, merchants · **What happens:** ascertain, engage · **To what, where:** principal reason, distance trade This is exam question 3 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/#e3). ## The question {#question} ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:e3:1 # text = Ascertain the principal reason for which the merchants of Mesopotamia engaged in long-distance trade. 1 Ascertain ascertain VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 3 principal principal ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 4 amod _ _ 4 reason reason NOUN NN Number=Sing 1 obj _ _ 5 for for ADP IN _ 6 case _ _ 6 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 11 obl _ _ 7 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 merchants merchant NOUN NNS Number=Plur 11 nsubj _ _ 9 of of ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 10 Mesopotamia Mesopotamia PROPN NNP Number=Sing 8 nmod _ _ 11 engaged engage VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 acl:relcl _ _ 12 in in ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 13 long long ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 15 amod _ SpaceAfter=No 14 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 13 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 15 distance distance NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 compound _ _ 16 trade trade NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 17 . . PUNCT . _ 1 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal reason | | | | | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic | | 2 | **engage** | past | the merchants of Mesopotamia | | | | | in distance trade *goal*; for the principal reason | vn involve-107.1 «NP V NP PP.goal»: agent=Agent in trade=Goal | 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} The merchants were obliged to visit the ocean ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:e3:o1:1 # text = The merchants were obliged to visit the ocean 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 merchants merchant 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 obliged oblige VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 5 to to PART TO _ 6 mark _ _ 6 visit visit VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 xcomp _ _ 7 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 ocean ocean NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obj _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **oblige** | past · passive | | the merchants | | | | | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Patient clause=Result | | 2 | **visit** | to-infinitive | | the ocean | | | | | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ocean=Co-Agent | ### Option 2 {#o2} The region possessed a surplus of timber ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:e3:o2:1 # text = The region possessed a surplus of timber 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 region region NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 possessed possess VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 5 surplus surplus NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 obj _ _ 6 of of ADP IN _ 7 case _ _ 7 timber timber NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 nmod _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **possess** | past | the region | a surplus of timber | | | | | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot surplus=Theme | ### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3} The region was deficient in timber, stone and metal ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:e3:o3:1 # text = The region was deficient in timber, stone and metal 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 region region NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 3 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 cop _ _ 4 deficient deficient ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ _ 5 in in ADP IN _ 6 case _ _ 6 timber timber NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 7 , , PUNCT , _ 8 punct _ _ 8 stone stone NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 conj _ _ 9 and and CCONJ CC _ 10 cc _ _ 10 metal metal NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 conj _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | past | the region | | | timber and stone and metal | | deficient *property* | tree rules | ### Option 4 {#o4} Agriculture was prohibited therein ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:e3:o4:1 # text = Agriculture was prohibited therein 1 Agriculture agriculture 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 prohibited prohibit VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 4 therein therein ADV RB _ 3 advmod _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **prohibit** | past · passive | | Agriculture | | | | therein *property* | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | **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. 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