---
title: Ascertain the innovation introduced by Malcom McLean in 1956 that gr… — Trade: why people swap, and the great… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the innovation introduced by Malcom McLean in 1956 that greatly reduced the cost of shipping. Exam question 4 of lesson 70 «Trade: why people swap, and the great trade routes» of the history course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of eac
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/70-trade-why-people-swap-and-the-great-trade-routes/e4/)

<!-- 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/) / [Trade: why people swap, and the great…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/70-trade-why-people-swap-and-the-great-trade-routes/) / e4

# Exam question 4 · Trade: why people swap, and the great trade routes

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the innovation introduced by Malcom McLean in 1956 that greatly reduced the cost of shipping.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, introduce, reduce, cost · **To what, where:** innovation, 1956, shipping

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 70 «Trade: why people swap, and the great trade routes» 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/70-trade-why-people-swap-and-the-great-trade-routes/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:70-trade-why-people-swap-and-the-great-trade-routes:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the innovation introduced by Malcom McLean in 1956 that greatly reduced the cost of shipping.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	innovation	innovation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	introduced	introduce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	Malcom	Malcom	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	McLean	McLean	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	1956	1956	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	4	obl	_	_
10	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	12	obj	_	_
11	greatly	greatly	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	reduced	reduce	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	cost	cost	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	shipping	shipping	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	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 innovation |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent innovation=Topic |
| 2 | **introduce** | participle |  | the innovation *not said here* |  | 1956 |  | by Malcom McLean | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **reduce** | past |  | the innovation |  |  |  | greatly *property* | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2 «NP V NP.patient NP.extent PP.initial\_state PP.result»: agent=Causer that=Patient cost=Extent |
| 4 | **cost** |  |  | shipping |  |  |  |  | nom cost «possession transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
The Fairtrade label

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:70-trade-why-people-swap-and-the-great-trade-routes:e4:o1:1
# text = The Fairtrade label
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	Fairtrade	Fairtrade	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	label	label	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The standard shipping container

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:70-trade-why-people-swap-and-the-great-trade-routes:e4:o2:1
# text = The standard shipping container
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	standard	standard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	shipping	shipping	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	container	container	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The secret ballot for dock workers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:70-trade-why-people-swap-and-the-great-trade-routes:e4:o3:1
# text = The secret ballot for dock workers
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	secret	secret	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	ballot	ballot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	dock	dock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	workers	worker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The steam-powered cargo ship

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:70-trade-why-people-swap-and-the-great-trade-routes:e4:o4:1
# text = The steam-powered cargo ship
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
2	steam	steam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	powered	power	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	_
5	cargo	cargo	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	ship	ship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **power** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | 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: [Trade: why people swap, and the great…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/70-trade-why-people-swap-and-the-great-trade-routes/e3/)
- next →: [What trade carried: tomatoes, tea, hor…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/71-what-trade-carried-tomatoes-tea-horses-words-and-diseases/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Trade: why people swap, and the great trade routes](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/70-trade-why-people-swap-and-the-great-trade-routes/)