---
title: Ascertain the explanation of the decline of the Indus cities which i… — Ancient India: the Indus cities and th… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the explanation of the decline of the Indus cities which is at present most widely accepted. Exam question 4 of lesson 7 «Ancient India: the Indus cities and the first kingdoms» of the history course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of e
---

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# Exam question 4 · Ancient India: the Indus cities and the first kingdoms

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the explanation of the decline of the Indus cities which is at present most widely accepted.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, Indus cities, decline · **What happens:** ascertain, be, accept, explain, decline · **To what, where:** explanation

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 7 «Ancient India: the Indus cities and the first kingdoms» 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/7-ancient-india-the-indus-cities-and-the-first-kingdoms/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:7-ancient-india-the-indus-cities-and-the-first-kingdoms:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the explanation of the decline of the Indus cities which is at present most widely accepted.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	explanation	explanation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	decline	decline	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	Indus	Indus	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	cities	city	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
11	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
13	at	at	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	present	present	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	acl:relcl	_	_
15	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	16	advmod	_	_
16	widely	widely	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	accepted	accept	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	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 explanation of the decline of the Indus cities |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent explanation=Topic |
| 2 | **is** | present | the Indus cities |  |  |  |  | present *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **accept** | participle | the Indus cities *not said here* |  |  |  |  | widely *property* | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **explain** |  | the decline of the Indus cities |  |  |  |  |  | nom explanation «communication intransitive»: of=agent |
| 5 | **decline** |  | the Indus cities |  |  |  |  |  | nom decline «process intransitive»: of=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A decree of the Persian king

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:7-ancient-india-the-indus-cities-and-the-first-kingdoms:e4:o1:1
# text = A decree of the Persian king
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	decree	decree	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	Persian	persian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **decree** |  | the Persian king |  |  |  |  |  | nom decree «communication intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A sudden destruction by invaders in a single day

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:7-ancient-india-the-indus-cities-and-the-first-kingdoms:e4:o2:1
# text = A sudden destruction by invaders in a single day
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	sudden	sudden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	destruction	destruction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	invaders	invader	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **destroy** |  | invaders in a single day |  |  |  |  |  | nom destruction «act transitive»: by=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A volcanic eruption

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:7-ancient-india-the-indus-cities-and-the-first-kingdoms:e4:o3:1
# text = A volcanic eruption
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	volcanic	volcanic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	eruption	eruption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A gradual abandonment attributable to changing rivers and a drier climate

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:7-ancient-india-the-indus-cities-and-the-first-kingdoms:e4:o4:1
# text = A gradual abandonment attributable to changing rivers and a drier climate
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	gradual	gradual	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	abandonment	abandonment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	attributable	attributable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
5	to	to	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	changing	change	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
7	rivers	river	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	drier	dry	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	11	amod	_	_
11	climate	climate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **change** | gerund |  | rivers |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent river=Patient |

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**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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