---
title: The teacher said Chinese is impossible to learn. What did Mei show? — China: Mei's exaggerations and everyda… · tree and pragmatics
description: The teacher said Chinese is impossible to learn. What did Mei show? Test 6 · ★★★ of lesson 60 «China: Mei's exaggerations and everyday China» 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.
---

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# Test 6 · ★★★ · China: Mei's exaggerations and everyday China

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The teacher said Chinese is impossible to learn. What did Mei show?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** teacher, Chinese, Mei · **What happens:** say, be, learn, show · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★★★ of lesson 60 «China: Mei's exaggerations and everyday China» 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/60-china-mei-s-exaggerations-and-everyday-china/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* The teacher said Chinese is impossible to learn.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:60-china-mei-s-exaggerations-and-everyday-china:t6:1
# text = The teacher said Chinese is impossible to learn.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	Chinese	Chinese	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	impossible	impossible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	ccomp	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	learn	learn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	csubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the teacher |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | Chinese |  |  |  |  | impossible *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **learn** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 did Mei show?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:60-china-mei-s-exaggerations-and-everyday-china:t6:2
# text = What did Mei show?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	Mei	Mei	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	show	show	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | past · do-support | Mei |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent what=Recipient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Chinese has only 26 letters, just like English

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:60-china-mei-s-exaggerations-and-everyday-china:t6:o1:1
# text = Chinese has only 26 letters, just like English
1	Chinese	Chinese	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	26	26	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	just	just	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
8	like	like	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Chinese | 26 letters |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent letter=Patient |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Hard is not impossible: she taught the class «nǐ hǎo»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:60-china-mei-s-exaggerations-and-everyday-china:t6:o2:1
# text = Hard is not impossible: she taught the class «nǐ hǎo»
1	Hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	impossible	impossible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
6	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	taught	teach	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	class	class	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	nǐ	nǐ	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	7	obj	_	_
12	hǎo	hǎo	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	11	flat:foreign	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | impossible *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **teach** *speech: other* | past | she | the class |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent class=Recipient nǐ=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was right: no foreigner has ever learned to speak Chinese

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:60-china-mei-s-exaggerations-and-everyday-china:t6:o3:1
# text = He was right: no foreigner has ever learned to speak Chinese
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
5	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	6	det	_	_
6	foreigner	foreigner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	9	advmod	_	_
9	learned	learn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	parataxis	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	speak	speak	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	xcomp	_	_
12	Chinese	Chinese	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | He |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **learn** | present · perfect · passive |  | no foreigner |  |  | ever |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **speak** *speech: other* | to-infinitive |  | Chinese |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Chinese has no tones, so it is in fact very easy

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:60-china-mei-s-exaggerations-and-everyday-china:t6:o4:1
# text = Chinese has no tones, so it is in fact very easy
1	Chinese	Chinese	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	tones	tone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	fact	fact	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	parataxis	_	_
11	very	very	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	easy	easy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Chinese | no tones |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tone=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | present | it |  |  | fact |  |  | 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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [China: Mei's exaggerations and everyda…, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/60-china-mei-s-exaggerations-and-everyday-china/t5/)
- next →: [China: Mei's exaggerations and everyda…, test 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/60-china-mei-s-exaggerations-and-everyday-china/t7/)
- ↑ 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/)