---
title: Nonna says Marco Polo brought spaghetti from China. Fix it kindly. — China: the four great inventions · tree and pragmatics
description: Nonna says Marco Polo brought spaghetti from China. Fix it kindly. Test 4 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 choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 4 · China: the four great inventions

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nonna says Marco Polo brought spaghetti from China. Fix it kindly.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Nonna, Marco, you · **What happens:** say, bring, fix · **To what, where:** spaghetti, China · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 of lesson 53 «China: the four great inventions» 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/53-china-the-four-great-inventions/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Nonna says Marco Polo brought spaghetti from China.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:53-china-the-four-great-inventions:t4:1
# text = Nonna says Marco Polo brought spaghetti from China.
1	Nonna	Nonna	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	Marco	Marco	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	Polo	Polo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	flat	_	_
5	brought	bring	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
6	spaghetti	spaghetti	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	China	China	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Nonna |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **bring** | past | Marco | spaghetti |  | China |  |  | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent spaghetti=Theme from china=Initial\_Location |

<!-- .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:* Fix it kindly.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:53-china-the-four-great-inventions:t4:2
# text = Fix it kindly.
1	Fix	fix	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	obj	_	_
3	kindly	kindly	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fix** | imperative | you *not said here* | spaghetti |  |  |  | kindly *property* | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent it=Patient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Italy had pasta before him; the story is a 20th-century myth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:53-china-the-four-great-inventions:t4:o1:1
# text = Italy had pasta before him; the story is a 20th-century myth
1	Italy	Italy	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	pasta	pasta	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	before	before	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
11	20th	20th	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Combi|NumType=Ord	13	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	century	century	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
14	myth	myth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | Italy | pasta |  |  | before him *= he* |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pasta=Patient |
| 2 | **is a** | present | the story | a century myth |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Marco Polo invented noodles

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:53-china-the-four-great-inventions:t4:o2:1
# text = Marco Polo invented noodles
1	Marco	Marco	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	Polo	Polo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	_
3	invented	invent	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	noodles	noodle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **invent** | past | Marco | noodles |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent noodle=Result |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Spaghetti came from Mexico

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:53-china-the-four-great-inventions:t4:o3:1
# text = Spaghetti came from Mexico
1	Spaghetti	spaghetti	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	Mexico	Mexico	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | past | Spaghetti |  |  | Mexico |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from mexico=Initial\_Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She is right; it is proven by the letters he wrote home from China

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:53-china-the-four-great-inventions:t4:o4:1
# text = She is right; it is proven by the letters he wrote home from China
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	proven	prove	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	parataxis	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
11	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	wrote	write	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
13	home	home	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
14	from	from	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	China	China	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | She |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **prove** | present · passive | the letters | it |  |  |  |  | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |
| 3 | **write** | past | he |  |  | China |  | home *property* | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP PP.material»: agent=Agent from china=Material |

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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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