---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — China: Mei's exaggerations and everyda… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the distinction between Mandarin and English with regard to the number of speakers? Exam question 3 of lesson 60 «China: Mei's exaggerations and everyday China» of the history course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree an
---

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# Exam question 3 · China: Mei's exaggerations and everyday China

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the distinction between Mandarin and English with regard to the number of speakers?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** distinction

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 60 «China: Mei's exaggerations and everyday China» 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/60-china-mei-s-exaggerations-and-everyday-china/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:60-china-mei-s-exaggerations-and-everyday-china:e3:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the distinction between Mandarin and English with regard to the number of speakers?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	distinction	distinction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	between	between	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	Mandarin	Mandarin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	_
15	with	with	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	regard	regard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
17	to	to	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	_
20	of	of	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	speakers	speaker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the distinction |  |  |  | of the following statements; between Mandarin and English; with regard to the number of speakers; accurately *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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Neither language is spoken by more than a million persons

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:60-china-mei-s-exaggerations-and-everyday-china:e3:o1:1
# text = Neither language is spoken by more than a million persons
1	Neither	neither	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	2	det	_	_
2	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	spoken	speak	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
6	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp|ExtPos=ADV	9	advmod	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	6	fixed	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	million	million	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
10	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | present · passive | million persons | neither language |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Both languages possess exactly equal numbers of speakers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:60-china-mei-s-exaggerations-and-everyday-china:e3:o2:1
# text = Both languages possess exactly equal numbers of speakers
1	Both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	languages	language	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	possess	possess	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	exactly	exactly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	equal	equal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	numbers	number	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	speakers	speaker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **possess** | present | both languages | equal numbers of speakers |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot number=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
English has the most native speakers; Mandarin the most speakers in total

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:60-china-mei-s-exaggerations-and-everyday-china:e3:o3:1
# text = English has the most native speakers; Mandarin the most speakers in total
1	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	5	advmod	_	_
5	native	native	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	speakers	speaker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
8	Mandarin	Mandarin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	11	amod	_	_
11	speakers	speaker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	total	total	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | English | the native speakers |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent speaker=Patient |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mandarin has the most native speakers; English the most speakers in total

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:60-china-mei-s-exaggerations-and-everyday-china:e3:o4:1
# text = Mandarin has the most native speakers; English the most speakers in total
1	Mandarin	Mandarin	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	5	advmod	_	_
5	native	native	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	speakers	speaker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	11	punct	_	_
8	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	amod	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	11	amod	_	_
11	speakers	speaker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	total	total	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Mandarin | the native speakers |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- 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.

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- ← previous: [China: Mei's exaggerations and everyda…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/60-china-mei-s-exaggerations-and-everyday-china/e2/)
- next →: [China: Mei's exaggerations and everyda…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/60-china-mei-s-exaggerations-and-everyday-china/e4/)
- ↑ back to [China: Mei's exaggerations and everyday China](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/60-china-mei-s-exaggerations-and-everyday-china/)