---
title: Ascertain the purpose pursued by those alchemists to whom the discov… — China: the four great inventions · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the purpose pursued by those alchemists to whom the discovery of gunpowder is attributed. Exam question 3 of lesson 53 «China: the four great inventions» of the history course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choic
---

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# Exam question 3 · China: the four great inventions

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the purpose pursued by those alchemists to whom the discovery of gunpowder is attributed.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, pursue, attribute, discover · **To what, where:** purpose, discovery, gunpowder

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 53 «China: the four great inventions» 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/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:53-china-the-four-great-inventions:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the purpose pursued by those alchemists to whom the discovery of gunpowder is attributed.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	pursued	pursue	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	those	that	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	7	det	_	_
7	alchemists	alchemist	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	whom	whom	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nmod	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	discovery	discovery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	gunpowder	gunpowder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux:pass	_	_
15	attributed	attribute	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the purpose |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent purpose=Topic |
| 2 | **pursue** | participle |  | the purpose *not said here* |  |  |  | by that alchemists | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent by alchemist=Trajectory |
| 3 | **attribute** | present · passive |  | the discovery of gunpowder |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **discover** |  |  | gunpowder |  |  |  |  | nom discovery «act transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The preparation of medicines conferring long life

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:53-china-the-four-great-inventions:e3:o1:1
# text = The preparation of medicines conferring long life
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	preparation	preparation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	medicines	medicine	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	conferring	confer	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	acl	_	_
6	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confer** | gerund | medicines *not said here* | long life |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **prepare** |  |  | medicines |  |  |  |  | nom preparation «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The detection of earthquakes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:53-china-the-four-great-inventions:e3:o2:1
# text = The detection of earthquakes
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	detection	detection	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	earthquakes	earthquake	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **detect** |  |  | earthquakes |  |  |  |  | nom detection «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The navigation of ships at sea

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:53-china-the-four-great-inventions:e3:o3:1
# text = The navigation of ships at sea
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	navigation	navigation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	ships	ship	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **navigate** |  |  | ships |  | sea |  |  | nom navigation «act transitive»: of=patient at=place |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The manufacture of porcelain

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:53-china-the-four-great-inventions:e3:o4:1
# text = The manufacture of porcelain
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	manufacture	manufacture	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	porcelain	porcelain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **manufacture** |  |  | porcelain |  |  |  |  | nom manufacture «act transitive»: of=patient |

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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 four great inventions, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/e2/)
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