---
title: Ascertain the reason for which certain capitals, such as Brasília an… — Cities then and now: the biggest citie… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which certain capitals, such as Brasília and Canberra, were established anew. Exam question 4 of lesson 74 «Cities then and now: the biggest cities of every age and of today» of the history course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the quest
---

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# Exam question 4 · Cities then and now: the biggest cities of every age and o…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which certain capitals, such as Brasília and Canberra, were established anew.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, establish · **To what, where:** reason, certain capitals

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 74 «Cities then and now: the biggest cities of every age and of today» 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/74-the-biggest-cities-of-every-age-and-of-today/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:74-the-biggest-cities-of-every-age-and-of-today:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which certain capitals, such as Brasília and Canberra, were established anew.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	16	obl	_	_
6	certain	certain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	capitals	capital	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nsubj:pass	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	11	case	_	_
10	as	as	ADP	IN	_	9	fixed	_	_
11	Brasília	Brasília	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	Canberra	Canberra	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
15	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux:pass	_	_
16	established	establish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
17	anew	anew	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	xcomp	_	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 reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **establish** | past · passive |  | certain capitals such Brasília and Canberra |  |  |  | for the reason; anew *property* | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: subject=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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because the former capitals had been submerged by the sea

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:74-the-biggest-cities-of-every-age-and-of-today:e4:o1:1
# text = Because the former capitals had been submerged by the sea
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	former	former	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	capitals	capital	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	submerged	submerge	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **submerge** | past · perfect · passive | the sea | the former capitals |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because no other cities existed in those states

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:74-the-biggest-cities-of-every-age-and-of-today:e4:o2:1
# text = Because no other cities existed in those states
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
3	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	cities	city	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	existed	exist	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	those	that	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	8	det	_	_
8	states	state	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **exist** | past | no other cities |  |  | that states |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in state=Location |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To be impartial as between the regions of the state

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:74-the-biggest-cities-of-every-age-and-of-today:e4:o3:1
# text = To be impartial as between the regions of the state
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	3	mark	_	_
2	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	cop	_	_
3	impartial	impartial	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	between	between	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	regions	region	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	state	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | as the regions of the state; impartial *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To conceal the government from foreign visitors

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:74-the-biggest-cities-of-every-age-and-of-today:e4:o4:1
# text = To conceal the government from foreign visitors
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	conceal	conceal	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	government	government	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	foreign	foreign	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	visitors	visitor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **conceal** | to-infinitive |  | the government |  |  |  | from foreign visitors | vn concealment-16 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent government=Patient from visitor=Beneficiary |

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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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