---
title: Mia's cousin: "Aztecs never wrote books, they just did pyramids, mid… — What was lost and what was gained: lan… · tree and pragmatics
description: Mia's cousin: "Aztecs never wrote books, they just did pyramids, mid." ("Mid" means not very good.) What's the correction? Test 6 · ★ of lesson 77 «What was lost and what was gained: languages, foods, music and knowledge» of the history course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and p
---

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# Test 6 · ★ · What was lost and what was gained: languages, foods, music…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mia's cousin: "Aztecs never wrote books, they just did pyramids, mid." ("Mid" means not very good.) What's the correction?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Aztecs, Mid, correction · **What happens:** not write, do, not mean, be · **To what, where:** books, pyramids

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★ of lesson 77 «What was lost and what was gained: languages, foods, music and knowledge» of the history course of Mova's primary school. 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/77-what-was-lost-and-what-was-gained/#t6).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Mia's cousin: "Aztecs never wrote books, they just did pyramids, mid."

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:77-what-was-lost-and-what-was-gained:t6:1
# text = Mia's cousin: "Aztecs never wrote books, they just did pyramids, mid."
1	Mia	Mia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	cousin	cousin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
5	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	Aztecs	aztec	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
7	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	wrote	write	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
9	books	book	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
12	just	just	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
14	pyramids	pyramid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
16	mid	mid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **write** *in a quote* | past | Aztecs | books |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent book=Theme |
| 2 | **do** *in a quote* | past | Aztecs *= aztec* | pyramids and mid |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pyramid=Eventuality |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* ("Mid" means not very good.)

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:77-what-was-lost-and-what-was-gained:t6:2
# text = ("Mid" means not very good.)
1	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	Mid	Mid	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
5	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
7	very	very	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **mean** | present | Mid |  |  |  |  | good *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What's the correction?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:77-what-was-lost-and-what-was-gained:t6:3
# text = What's the correction?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	correction	correction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the correction |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Aztecs wrote millions of books, and every single one survives today

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:77-what-was-lost-and-what-was-gained:t6:o1:1
# text = The Aztecs wrote millions of books, and every single one survives today
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Aztecs	Aztec	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	wrote	write	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	millions	million	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	books	book	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
9	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	11	det	_	_
10	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	survives	survive	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
13	today	today	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write** | past | the Aztecs | millions of books |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent million=Theme |
| 2 | **survive** | present | every single one |  |  |  | today |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Aztec books are in every library

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:77-what-was-lost-and-what-was-gained:t6:o2:1
# text = Aztec books are in every library
1	Aztec	Aztec	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	books	book	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	library	library	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Aztec books |  |  | every library |  |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They made books, but fewer than 20 from before the conquest survive

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:77-what-was-lost-and-what-was-gained:t6:o3:1
# text = They made books, but fewer than 20 from before the conquest survive
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	books	book	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
6	fewer	few	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	8	advmod	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	6	fixed	_	_
8	20	20	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	2	obl	_	_
9	from	from	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	before	before	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	conquest	conquest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
13	survive	survive	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | past | They | books |  | the conquest |  | 20 *obl* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V PP»: agent=Asset book=Product from conquest=Material |
| 2 | **survive** | infinitive | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Aztecs had no writing of any kind

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:77-what-was-lost-and-what-was-gained:t6:o4:1
# text = The Aztecs had no writing of any kind
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Aztecs	Aztec	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	5	det	_	_
5	writing	writing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	det	_	_
8	kind	kind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | the Aztecs | no writing of any kind |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent writing=Patient |
| 2 | **write** |  |  | any kind |  |  |  |  | nom writing «act transitive»: of=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.

<!-- /div -->

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