---
title: mate says the wheel was the first thing ever invented, before farms… — Mesopotamia: wheels, laws and empires · tree and pragmatics
description: mate says the wheel was the first thing ever invented, before farms even. true? Test 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 choice was wrong.
---

<!-- md -->
[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/t2/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[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/) / t2

# Test 2 · ★ · Mesopotamia: wheels, laws and empires

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
mate says the wheel was the first thing ever invented, before farms even. true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** mate, wheel · **What happens:** say, be, invent · **To what, where:** first thing · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★ of lesson 4 «Mesopotamia: wheels, laws and empires» 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/4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:t2:1
# text = mate says the wheel was the first thing ever invented, before farms even. true?
1	mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	wheel	wheel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	8	amod	_	_
8	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	ccomp	_	_
9	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	10	advmod	_	_
10	invented	invent	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	before	before	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	farms	farm	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	parataxis	_	_
14	even	even	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	16	punct	_	_
16	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | mate |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | past | the wheel | the first thing |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **invent** | participle |  | the first thing *not said here* |  |  | ever |  | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V»: agent=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 -->
No, the plane came first

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:t2:o1:1
# text = No, the plane came first
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	plane	plane	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | past | the plane |  |  |  |  | first *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, farming and towns came thousands of years earlier

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:t2:o2:1
# text = No, farming and towns came thousands of years earlier
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	3	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	farming	farming	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	towns	town	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
6	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	thousands	thousand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl:unmarked	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
10	earlier	early	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | past | farming and towns | thousands of years |  |  |  | early *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, cavemen drove carts round on wooden wheels before they farmed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:t2:o3:1
# text = Yes, cavemen drove carts round on wooden wheels before they farmed
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	cavemen	caveman	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	drove	drive	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	carts	cart	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
6	round	round	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	wooden	wooden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	wheels	wheel	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
10	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
11	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	farmed	farm	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drive** | past | cavemen | carts |  | wooden wheels |  | round *property* | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent cart=Theme on wheel=Destination |
| 2 | **farm** | past | cavemen *= caveman* |  |  |  |  |  | vn rear-26.2.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, wheels came before fire

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires:t2:o4:1
# text = Yes, wheels came before fire
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	4	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	wheels	wheel	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	before	before	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | past | wheels |  |  |  |  | before *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Mesopotamia: wheels, laws and empires, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires/t1/)
- next →: [Mesopotamia: wheels, laws and empires, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires/t3/)
- ↑ back to [Mesopotamia: wheels, laws and empires](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/4-mesopotamia-wheels-laws-and-empires/)