---
title: The teacher says the Opium War was just «a trade war». What is fairer? — China: the Qing and the Opium Wars · tree and pragmatics
description: The teacher says the Opium War was just «a trade war». What is fairer? Test 4 · ★ of lesson 57 «China: the Qing and the Opium Wars» 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 right.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/57-china-the-qing-and-the-opium-wars/t4/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [History](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/) / [China: the Qing and the Opium Wars](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/57-china-the-qing-and-the-opium-wars/) / t4

# Test 4 · ★ · China: the Qing and the Opium Wars

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The teacher says the Opium War was just «a trade war». What is fairer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** teacher, Opium War · **What happens:** say, be · **To what, where:** trade war · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★ of lesson 57 «China: the Qing and the Opium Wars» 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/57-china-the-qing-and-the-opium-wars/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* The teacher says the Opium War was just «a trade war».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:57-china-the-qing-and-the-opium-wars:t4:1
# text = The teacher says the Opium War was just «a trade war».
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	Opium	Opium	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	War	War	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
8	just	just	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
9	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	trade	trade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	war	war	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | the teacher |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | past | the Opium War | a trade war |  |  |  |  | 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:57-china-the-qing-and-the-opium-wars:t4:2
# 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 -->
It was a friendly football match

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:57-china-the-qing-and-the-opium-wars:t4:o1:1
# text = It was a friendly football match
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	friendly	friendly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
5	football	football	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	match	match	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | It | a friendly football match |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was about the price of tea cups

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:57-china-the-qing-and-the-opium-wars:t4:o2:1
# text = It was about the price of tea cups
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	about	about	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	price	price	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	tea	tea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	cups	cup	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | It |  |  |  |  | about the price; of tea cups | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
China attacked London first, so Britain had to defend itself

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:57-china-the-qing-and-the-opium-wars:t4:o3:1
# text = China attacked London first, so Britain had to defend itself
1	China	China	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	attacked	attack	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	London	London	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	Britain	Britain	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	defend	defend	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **attack** | past | China | London |  |  |  | first *property* | vn attack-60.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent london=Patient |
| 2 | **have** | past | Britain |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **defend** | to-infinitive | Britain *not said here* | itself *= it* |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent itself=Beneficiary |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was a war that protected the British opium trade

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:57-china-the-qing-and-the-opium-wars:t4:o4:1
# text = It was a war that protected the British opium trade
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	war	war	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	protected	protect	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
8	British	British	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
9	opium	opium	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	trade	trade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | It | a war |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **protect** | past | a war | the British opium trade |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent trade=Beneficiary |

<!-- 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 Qing and the Opium Wars, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/57-china-the-qing-and-the-opium-wars/t3/)
- next →: [China: the Qing and the Opium Wars, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/57-china-the-qing-and-the-opium-wars/t5/)
- ↑ back to [China: the Qing and the Opium Wars](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/57-china-the-qing-and-the-opium-wars/)