---
title: Mei says China is the oldest country, the teacher says Egypt is olde… — China: five thousand years and the old… · tree and pragmatics
description: Mei says China is the oldest country, the teacher says Egypt is older. What is the wisest answer? Test 1 of lesson 51 «China: five thousand years and the oldest dynasties» of the history course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova
---

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# Test 1 · China: five thousand years and the oldest dynasties

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mei says China is the oldest country, the teacher says Egypt is older. What is the wisest answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Mei, China, teacher, Egypt, wisest answer · **What happens:** say, be · **To what, where:** oldest country · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 of lesson 51 «China: five thousand years and the oldest dynasties» 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/51-china-five-thousand-years-the-oldest-dynasties/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Mei says China is the oldest country, the teacher says Egypt is older.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:51-china-five-thousand-years-the-oldest-dynasties:t1:1
# text = Mei says China is the oldest country, the teacher says Egypt is older.
1	Mei	Mei	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	China	China	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	oldest	old	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	7	amod	_	_
7	country	country	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
12	Egypt	Egypt	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
14	older	old	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	11	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Mei |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | present | China | the oldest country |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | the teacher |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is** | present | Egypt |  |  |  |  | old *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What is the wisest answer?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:51-china-five-thousand-years-the-oldest-dynasties:t1:2
# text = What is the wisest answer?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	wisest	wise	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the wisest answer |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Both are wrong; Rome is the oldest

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:51-china-five-thousand-years-the-oldest-dynasties:t1:o1:1
# text = Both are wrong; Rome is the oldest
1	Both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
5	Rome	Rome	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	oldest	old	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	3	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Both |  |  |  |  | wrong *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | Rome |  |  |  |  | old *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The teacher is completely right and China is a young country, only a few hundred years old

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:51-china-five-thousand-years-the-oldest-dynasties:t1:o2:1
# text = The teacher is completely right and China is a young country, only a few hundred years old
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	completely	completely	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
7	China	China	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	young	young	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	country	country	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
13	only	only	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	hundred	hundred	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	17	nummod	_	_
17	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	obl:unmarked	_	_
18	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the teacher |  |  |  |  | completely, right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | present | China | a young country |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** |  | the teacher *not said here* |  |  |  | year |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mei is completely right

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:51-china-five-thousand-years-the-oldest-dynasties:t1:o3:1
# text = Mei is completely right
1	Mei	Mei	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	completely	completely	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Mei |  |  |  |  | completely, right *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Egypt's state was older; China's civilisation is among the longest continuous

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:51-china-five-thousand-years-the-oldest-dynasties:t1:o4:1
# text = Egypt's state was older; China's civilisation is among the longest continuous
1	Egypt	Egypt	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	state	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	older	old	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
7	China	China	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	civilisation	civilisation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
11	among	among	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	longest	long	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	14	amod	_	_
14	continuous	continuous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Egypt's state |  |  |  |  | old *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | China's civilisation |  |  |  |  | continuous *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **civilise** |  | China |  |  |  |  |  | nom civilisation «process transitive»: poss=agent |

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**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.

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- ← previous: [Today's Ukraine and Danylo's exaggerat…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/50-todays-ukraine-and-danylos-exaggerations/e4/)
- next →: [China: five thousand years and the old…, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/51-china-five-thousand-years-the-oldest-dynasties/t2/)
- ↑ back to [China: five thousand years and the oldest dynasties](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/51-china-five-thousand-years-the-oldest-dynasties/)