---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Cities: why they grow, and how water a… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the proportion of humanity residing in urban areas prior to the twenty-first century? Exam question 2 of lesson 73 «Cities: why they grow, and how water and sewers made them safe» of the history course of Mova's primary school, with the
---

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# Exam question 2 · Cities: why they grow, and how water and sewers made them…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the proportion of humanity residing in urban areas prior to the twenty-first century?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** humanity · **What happens:** follow, characteris, reside · **To what, where:** proportion, urban areas

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 73 «Cities: why they grow, and how water and sewers made them safe» 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/73-cities-why-they-grow-and-how-sewers-made-them-safe/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:73-cities-why-they-grow-and-how-sewers-made-them-safe:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the proportion of humanity residing in urban areas prior to the twenty-first century?
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	proportion	proportion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	humanity	humanity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
13	residing	reside	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	12	acl	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	urban	urban	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	areas	area	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	_
17	prior	prior	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	23	case	_	_
18	to	to	ADP	IN	_	17	fixed	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
20	twenty	twenty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	22	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	23	amod	_	_
23	century	century	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	?	?	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 proportion of humanity |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **reside** | gerund | humanity *not said here* |  |  | urban areas | century |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in area=Location |

<!-- .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 -->
It was nil until the nineteenth century

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:73-cities-why-they-grow-and-how-sewers-made-them-safe:e2:o1:1
# text = It was nil until the nineteenth century
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|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	nil	nil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	until	until	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	nineteenth	nineteenth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	century	century	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | It | nil |  |  | century |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was precisely one half from the year eighteen hundred

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:73-cities-why-they-grow-and-how-sewers-made-them-safe:e2:o2:1
# text = It was precisely one half from the year eighteen hundred
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	precisely	precisely	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	0	root	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	eighteen	eighteen	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	compound	_	_
10	hundred	hundred	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | It | one half |  |  | year | precisely *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was a minority, the majority being reached only in two thousand and seven

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:73-cities-why-they-grow-and-how-sewers-made-them-safe:e2:o3:1
# text = It was a minority, the majority being reached only in two thousand and seven
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	minority	minority	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	majority	majority	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	reached	reach	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl:relcl	_	_
10	only	only	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	13	compound	_	_
13	thousand	thousand	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	obl	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
15	seven	seven	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	13	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | It | a minority |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **reach** | gerund · passive | a minority *not said here* | the majority |  | two thousand |  |  | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: subject=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was the overwhelming majority since antiquity, as the records of Rome attest

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:73-cities-why-they-grow-and-how-sewers-made-them-safe:e2:o4:1
# text = It was the overwhelming majority since antiquity, as the records of Rome attest
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	overwhelming	overwhelming	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	majority	majority	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	since	since	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	antiquity	antiquity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
9	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	records	record	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	Rome	Rome	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
14	attest	attest	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | It | the overwhelming majority |  |  | since antiquity |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **attest** | present | the records of Rome |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **record** |  |  | Rome |  |  |  |  | nom record «communication 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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- ← previous: [Cities: why they grow, and how water a…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/73-cities-why-they-grow-and-how-sewers-made-them-safe/e1/)
- next →: [Cities: why they grow, and how water a…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/73-cities-why-they-grow-and-how-sewers-made-them-safe/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Cities: why they grow, and how water and sewers made them safe](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/73-cities-why-they-grow-and-how-sewers-made-them-safe/)