--- title: Why do the oracle bones matter so much to historians? — Ancient China: dynasties, the First Em… · tree and pragmatics description: Why do the oracle bones matter so much to historians? Test 9 of lesson 9 «Ancient China: dynasties, the First Emperor and the Great Wall» of the history course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was right. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/9-ancient-china-dynasties-the-first-emperor-and-the-great-wall/t9/) [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/) / [Ancient China: dynasties, the First Em…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/9-ancient-china-dynasties-the-first-emperor-and-the-great-wall/) / t9 # Test 9 · Ancient China: dynasties, the First Emperor and the Great… Why do the oracle bones matter so much to historians? **Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** oracle bones · **What happens:** do, matter · **To what, where:** much This is test 9 of lesson 9 «Ancient China: dynasties, the First Emperor and the Great Wall» 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/9-ancient-china-dynasties-the-first-emperor-and-the-great-wall/#t9). ## The question {#question} ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:9-ancient-china-dynasties-the-first-emperor-and-the-great-wall:t9:1 # text = Why do the oracle bones matter so much to historians? 1 Why why ADV WRB PronType=Int 2 advmod _ _ 2 do do VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 6 advcl _ _ 3 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 4 oracle oracle NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 compound _ _ 5 bones bone NOUN NNS Number=Plur 6 nsubj _ _ 6 matter matter VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 7 so so ADV RB _ 8 advmod _ _ 8 much much ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 6 obj _ _ 9 to to ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 10 historians historian NOUN NNS Number=Plur 8 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 11 ? ? PUNCT . _ 6 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **do** | present | the oracle bones *not said here* | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **matter** | present | the oracle bones | much | | | | to historians | tree rules | 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} They show a map of China ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:9-ancient-china-dynasties-the-first-emperor-and-the-great-wall:t9:o1:1 # text = They show a map of China 1 They they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 show show VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 4 map map NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obj _ _ 5 of of ADP IN _ 6 case _ _ 6 China China PROPN NNP Number=Sing 4 nmod _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **show** | present | They | a map of China | | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent map=Recipient | ### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2} They hold the oldest known Chinese writing ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:9-ancient-china-dynasties-the-first-emperor-and-the-great-wall:t9:o2:1 # text = They hold the oldest known Chinese writing 1 They they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 hold hold VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 4 oldest old ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 7 amod _ _ 5 known know VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 7 amod _ _ 6 Chinese Chinese ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 7 amod _ _ 7 writing writing NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obj _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **hold** | present | They | the oldest known Chinese writing | | | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent writing=Theme | | 2 | **know** | participle | | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | ### Option 3 {#o3} They are the bones of a real dragon from the river ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:9-ancient-china-dynasties-the-first-emperor-and-the-great-wall:t9:o3:1 # text = They are the bones of a real dragon from the river 1 They they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 2 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 cop _ _ 3 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 4 bones bone NOUN NNS Number=Plur 0 root _ _ 5 of of ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 6 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 7 real real ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 8 amod _ _ 8 dragon dragon NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nmod _ _ 9 from from ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 10 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 11 det _ _ 11 river river NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 nmod _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** | present | They | the bones | | | | of a real dragon from the river | tree rules | ### Option 4 {#o4} They were made of solid gold from the emperor's mines ```conllu # sent_id = question:history:9-ancient-china-dynasties-the-first-emperor-and-the-great-wall:t9:o4:1 # text = They were made of solid gold from the emperor's mines 1 They they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 nsubj _ _ 2 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 aux:pass _ _ 3 made make VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 4 of of ADP IN _ 6 case _ _ 5 solid solid ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 6 amod _ _ 6 gold gold NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 obl _ _ 7 from from ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 8 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 9 emperor emperor NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 10 's 's PART POS _ 9 case _ _ 11 mines mine NOUN NNS Number=Plur 3 obl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **make** | past · passive | | They | | the emperor's mines | | of solid gold | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V PP»: subject=Product from mine=Material | **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. - ← previous: [Ancient China: dynasties, the First Em…, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/9-ancient-china-dynasties-the-first-emperor-and-the-great-wall/t8/) - next →: [Ancient China: dynasties, the First Em…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/9-ancient-china-dynasties-the-first-emperor-and-the-great-wall/t10/) - ↑ back to [Ancient China: dynasties, the First Emperor and the Great Wall](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/history/9-ancient-china-dynasties-the-first-emperor-and-the-great-wall/)