---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Games vs history: tech trees, barbaria… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the circumstances of the Maya following the decline of their southern cities around the ninth century? Exam question 2 of lesson 80 «Games vs history: tech trees, barbarians, empty lands, wonders and falls» of the history course of Mova
---

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# Exam question 2 · Games vs history: tech trees, barbarians, empty lands, won…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the circumstances of the Maya following the decline of their southern cities around the ninth century?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** circumstances, southern cities · **What happens:** follow, characteris, decline · **To what, where:** circumstances, decline

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 80 «Games vs history: tech trees, barbarians, empty lands, wonders and falls» 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/80-games-vs-history-tech-trees-barbarians-empty-lands-wonders-and-falls/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:80-games-vs-history-tech-trees-barbarians-empty-lands-wonders-and-falls:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the circumstances of the Maya following the decline of their southern cities around the ninth 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	circumstances	circumstance	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	Maya	Maya	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	acl	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	decline	decline	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
18	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	20	nmod:poss	_	_
19	southern	southern	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	cities	city	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nmod	_	_
21	around	around	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
23	ninth	ninth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	24	amod	_	_
24	century	century	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	?	?	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 circumstances of the Maya |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **follow** | gerund | the circumstances of the Maya *not said here* | the decline of circumstances's southern cities around the ninth century |  |  |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent decline=Theme |
| 4 | **decline** |  | circumstances's southern cities around the ninth century |  |  |  |  |  | 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 -->
They disappeared entirely during the ninth century and left behind no descendants of any kind

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:80-games-vs-history-tech-trees-barbarians-empty-lands-wonders-and-falls:e2:o1:1
# text = They disappeared entirely during the ninth century and left behind no descendants of any kind
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	disappeared	disappear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	during	during	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	ninth	ninth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	century	century	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	left	leave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	conj	_	_
10	behind	behind	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	12	det	_	_
12	descendants	descendant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	15	det	_	_
15	kind	kind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **disappear** | past | They |  |  |  | century | entirely *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **leave** | participle | They *not said here* |  |  | no descendants of any kind |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent behind descendant=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were transported to Europe

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:80-games-vs-history-tech-trees-barbarians-empty-lands-wonders-and-falls:e2:o2:1
# text = They were transported to Europe
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	transported	transport	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	Europe	Europe	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **transport** | past · passive |  | They | Europe |  |  |  | vn send-11.1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme to europe=Destination |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Their cities never declined in any respect

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:80-games-vs-history-tech-trees-barbarians-empty-lands-wonders-and-falls:e2:o3:1
# text = Their cities never declined in any respect
1	Their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	cities	city	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	declined	decline	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	7	det	_	_
7	respect	respect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **decline** | past | Their cities |  |  |  |  | in any respect | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.patient V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient in respect=Attribute |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Their descendants persisted, numbering millions and speaking Mayan languages to this day

```conllu
# sent_id = question:history:80-games-vs-history-tech-trees-barbarians-empty-lands-wonders-and-falls:e2:o4:1
# text = Their descendants persisted, numbering millions and speaking Mayan languages to this day
1	Their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	descendants	descendant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	persisted	persist	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	numbering	number	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	advcl	_	_
6	millions	million	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	speaking	speak	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	conj	_	_
9	Mayan	mayan	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	languages	language	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	13	det	_	_
13	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **persist** | past | Their descendants |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **number** | gerund | Their descendants *not said here* | millions |  |  |  |  | vn classify-29.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent million=Theme |
| 3 | **speak** *speech: other* | gerund | Their descendants *not said here* | Mayan languages |  |  | day |  | tree rules |

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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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