---
title: Ascertain the principal reasons for the cessation of the Ming mariti… — China: the Ming and Zheng He's voyages · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the principal reasons for the cessation of the Ming maritime expeditions after 1433. Exam question 3 of lesson 56 «China: the Ming and Zheng He's voyages» of the history course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choi
---

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# Exam question 3 · China: the Ming and Zheng He's voyages

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the principal reasons for the cessation of the Ming maritime expeditions after 1433.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, cease · **To what, where:** principal reasons, Ming maritime expeditions

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 56 «China: the Ming and Zheng He's voyages» 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/56-china-the-ming-and-zheng-he-s-voyages/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:56-china-the-ming-and-zheng-he-s-voyages:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the principal reasons for the cessation of the Ming maritime expeditions after 1433.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	reasons	reason	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	cessation	cessation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
10	Ming	Ming	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
11	maritime	maritime	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	expeditions	expedition	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
13	after	after	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	1433	1433	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	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 principal reasons |  |  |  | for the cessation of the Ming maritime expeditions after 1433 | vn ensure-99 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Precondition reason=Theme for cessation=Beneficiary |
| 2 | **cease** |  |  | the Ming maritime expeditions after 1433 |  |  |  |  | nom cessation «event 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 -->
Their expense, opposition at court and the priority of northern defence

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:56-china-the-ming-and-zheng-he-s-voyages:e3:o1:1
# text = Their expense, opposition at court and the priority of northern defence
1	Their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	expense	expense	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
4	opposition	opposition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	court	court	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	priority	priority	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	northern	northern	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	defence	defence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The exhaustion of all lands to be discovered

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:56-china-the-ming-and-zheng-he-s-voyages:e3:o2:1
# text = The exhaustion of all lands to be discovered
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	exhaustion	exhaustion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	det	_	_
5	lands	land	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	discovered	discover	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **discover** | to-infinitive · passive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84-1 «NP V PP.topic S\_ING» |
| 2 | **exhaust** |  |  | all lands |  |  |  |  | nom exhaustion «state transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The death of every sailor at sea

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:56-china-the-ming-and-zheng-he-s-voyages:e3:o3:1
# text = The death of every sailor at sea
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	det	_	_
5	sailor	sailor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **die** |  | every sailor at sea |  |  |  |  |  | nom death «event intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The destruction of the entire fleet by the Portuguese navy in the Indian Ocean

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:56-china-the-ming-and-zheng-he-s-voyages:e3:o4:1
# text = The destruction of the entire fleet by the Portuguese navy in the Indian Ocean
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	destruction	destruction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	entire	entire	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	fleet	fleet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	Portuguese	portuguese	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	navy	navy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	Indian	Indian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	Ocean	Ocean	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **destroy** |  | the Portuguese navy in the Indian Ocean | the entire fleet |  |  |  |  | nom destruction «act transitive»: of=patient by=agent |

<!-- 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: [China: the Ming and Zheng He's voyages, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/56-china-the-ming-and-zheng-he-s-voyages/e2/)
- next →: [China: the Ming and Zheng He's voyages, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/56-china-the-ming-and-zheng-he-s-voyages/e4/)
- ↑ back to [China: the Ming and Zheng He's voyages](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/56-china-the-ming-and-zheng-he-s-voyages/)