---
title: Identify the principal characteristic of the scientific method as pr… — Learning through the ages: schools, un… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal characteristic of the scientific method as practised by Ibn al-Haytham. Exam question 4 of lesson 64 «Learning through the ages: schools, universities, libraries and science» of the history course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the questio
---

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# Exam question 4 · Learning through the ages: schools, universities, librarie…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal characteristic of the scientific method as practised by Ibn al-Haytham.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, practise · **To what, where:** principal characteristic

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 64 «Learning through the ages: schools, universities, libraries and science» 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/64-learning-through-the-ages-schools-universities-libraries-and-science/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:64-learning-through-the-ages-schools-universities-libraries-and-science:e4:1
# text = Identify the principal characteristic of the scientific method as practised by Ibn al-Haytham.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	characteristic	characteristic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	scientific	scientific	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	method	method	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
9	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
10	practised	practise	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	parataxis	_	_
11	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	Ibn	Ibn	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	obl:agent	_	_
13	al	Al	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	Haytham	Haytham	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal characteristic of the scientific method |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent characteristic=Theme |
| 2 | **practise** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The memorisation of a fixed list of facts

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:64-learning-through-the-ages-schools-universities-libraries-and-science:e4:o1:1
# text = The memorisation of a fixed list of facts
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	memorisation	memorisation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	fixed	fix	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	_
6	list	list	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	facts	fact	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fix** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **memorise** |  |  | a fixed list of facts |  |  |  |  | nom memorisation «cognition transitive»: of=patient |
| 3 | **list** |  |  | facts |  |  |  |  | nom list «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The prohibition of all questions

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:64-learning-through-the-ages-schools-universities-libraries-and-science:e4:o2:1
# text = The prohibition of all questions
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	prohibition	prohibition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	det	_	_
5	questions	question	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prohibit** |  |  | all questions |  |  |  |  | nom prohibition «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The testing of ideas by experiment and their revision

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:64-learning-through-the-ages-schools-universities-libraries-and-science:e4:o3:1
# text = The testing of ideas by experiment and their revision
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	testing	testing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	ideas	idea	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	experiment	experiment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	revision	revision	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **test** |  | experiment | ideas |  |  |  |  | nom testing «act transitive»: of=patient by=agent |
| 2 | **revise** |  | ideas *= idea* |  |  |  |  |  | nom revision «act transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The acceptance of all ancient opinions

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:64-learning-through-the-ages-schools-universities-libraries-and-science:e4:o4:1
# text = The acceptance of all ancient opinions
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	acceptance	acceptance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
5	ancient	ancient	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	opinions	opinion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **accept** |  |  | all ancient opinions |  |  |  |  | nom acceptance «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- 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 -->

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