---
title: A friend says Zhang Qian «discovered the West» and Marco Polo was la… — China: the First Emperor, the Terracot… · tree and pragmatics
description: A friend says Zhang Qian «discovered the West» and Marco Polo was later. What is fairer? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 52 «China: the First Emperor, the Terracotta Army and the Great Wall» of the history course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each opti
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · China: the First Emperor, the Terracotta Army and the Grea…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A friend says Zhang Qian «discovered the West» and Marco Polo was later. What is fairer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** friend, Zhang · **What happens:** say, discover, be · **To what, where:** West · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 52 «China: the First Emperor, the Terracotta Army and the Great Wall» 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/52-china-the-first-emperor-the-terracotta-army-and-the-great-wall/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A friend says Zhang Qian «discovered the West» and Marco Polo was later.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:52-china-the-first-emperor-the-terracotta-army-and-the-great-wall:t8:1
# text = A friend says Zhang Qian «discovered the West» and Marco Polo was later.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	Zhang	Zhang	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
5	Qian	Qian	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	flat	_	_
6	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	discovered	discover	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	West	West	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	Marco	Marco	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	Polo	Polo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
14	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	later	late	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	13	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | a friend |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **discover** *in a quote* | past | Zhang | the West |  |  |  | Marco Polo *obl* | vn discover-84-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent west=Topic |
| 3 | **is** | past |  |  |  |  |  | late *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 fairer?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:52-china-the-first-emperor-the-terracotta-army-and-the-great-wall:t8:2
# text = What is fairer?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	fairer	fair	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Marco Polo was first to everything

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:52-china-the-first-emperor-the-terracotta-army-and-the-great-wall:t8:o1:1
# text = Marco Polo was first to everything
1	Marco	Marco	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	Polo	Polo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	everything	everything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Marco |  |  |  |  | to everything; first *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Zhang Qian went west to Central Asia much earlier; Marco Polo went east

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:52-china-the-first-emperor-the-terracotta-army-and-the-great-wall:t8:o2:1
# text = Zhang Qian went west to Central Asia much earlier; Marco Polo went east
1	Zhang	Zhang	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	Qian	Qian	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	_
3	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	west	west	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	Central	Central	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	flat	_	_
7	Asia	Asia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	much	much	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	earlier	early	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	Marco	Marco	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
12	Polo	Polo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	flat	_	_
13	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
14	east	east	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past | Zhang |  |  | Central Asia |  | early, west *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to asia=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **go** | past | Marco |  |  |  |  | east *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Neither ever travelled

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:52-china-the-first-emperor-the-terracotta-army-and-the-great-wall:t8:o3:1
# text = Neither ever travelled
1	Neither	neither	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	3	advmod	_	_
3	travelled	travell	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 | **travell** | participle |  |  |  |  | ever | neither *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Zhang Qian reached London, Paris and Rome long before any European came to China

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:52-china-the-first-emperor-the-terracotta-army-and-the-great-wall:t8:o4:1
# text = Zhang Qian reached London, Paris and Rome long before any European came to China
1	Zhang	Zhang	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	Qian	Qian	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	_
3	reached	reach	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	London	London	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	Paris	Paris	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	Rome	Rome	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
9	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	3	advmod	_	_
10	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
11	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	12	det	_	_
12	European	European	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	nsubj	_	_
13	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
14	to	to	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	China	China	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reach** | past | Zhang | London and Paris and Rome |  |  |  | long *property* | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent london=Theme |
| 2 | **come** | past | any European |  |  | China |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to china=Initial\_Location |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [China: the First Emperor, the Terracot…, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/52-china-the-first-emperor-the-terracotta-army-and-the-great-wall/t7/)
- next →: [China: the First Emperor, the Terracot…, test 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/52-china-the-first-emperor-the-terracotta-army-and-the-great-wall/t9/)
- ↑ back to [China: the First Emperor, the Terracotta Army and the Great Wall](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/52-china-the-first-emperor-the-terracotta-army-and-the-great-wall/)