---
title: In 1850 a merchant in London wants a reply from a friend in Sydney.… — Communication: letters, phones, radio… · tree and pragmatics
description: In 1850 a merchant in London wants a reply from a friend in Sydney. Why will he wait so long? Test 1 · ★★★ of lesson 100 «Communication: letters, phones, radio and the internet» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; 
---

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# Test 1 · ★★★ · Communication: letters, phones, radio and the internet

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In 1850 a merchant in London wants a reply from a friend in Sydney. Why will he wait so long?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** merchant · **What happens:** want, wait · **To what, where:** reply, 1850

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★★★ of lesson 100 «Communication: letters, phones, radio and the internet» of the world 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/world/100-communication-letters-to-internet/#t1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In 1850 a merchant in London wants a reply from a friend in Sydney.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:100-communication-letters-to-internet:t1:1
# text = In 1850 a merchant in London wants a reply from a friend in Sydney.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	1850	1850	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	7	obl	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	merchant	merchant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	London	London	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	reply	reply	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	from	from	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	Sydney	Sydney	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present | a merchant in London | a reply |  | 1850 |  | from a friend in Sydney | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot reply=Theme |

<!-- .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:* Why will he wait so long?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:100-communication-letters-to-internet:t1:2
# text = Why will he wait so long?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	wait	wait	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	so	so	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wait** | future | merchant |  |  |  |  | long *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The letter and the reply must both go by ship

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:100-communication-letters-to-internet:t1:o1:1
# text = The letter and the reply must both go by ship
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	letter	letter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	reply	reply	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
6	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
7	both	both	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	ship	ship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | must | the letter and the reply |  |  |  |  | by ship; both *property* | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme by ship=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Letters to Australia had to be written twice

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:100-communication-letters-to-internet:t1:o2:1
# text = Letters to Australia had to be written twice
1	Letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	to	to	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	Australia	Australia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
4	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
6	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	written	write	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	xcomp	_	_
8	twice	twice	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | Letters to Australia |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **write** | to-infinitive · passive | Letters to Australia *not said here* |  |  |  |  | twice *property* | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V» |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Post offices opened only once a year then

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:100-communication-letters-to-internet:t1:o3:1
# text = Post offices opened only once a year then
1	Post	post	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	offices	office	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	opened	open	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	3	advmod	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl:unmarked	_	_
8	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **open** | past | Post offices |  |  |  | then | once *property* | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The telegraph to Australia was much too expensive to use

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:100-communication-letters-to-internet:t1:o4:1
# text = The telegraph to Australia was much too expensive to use
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	telegraph	telegraph	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	Australia	Australia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
6	much	much	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	too	too	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	expensive	expensive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	use	use	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the telegraph to Australia |  |  |  |  | expensive *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **use** | to-infinitive | the telegraph to Australia *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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- ← previous: [Transport: from horses to planes, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/99-transport-horses-to-planes/e4/)
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