---
title: Given that a ship's half-hour glass is turned eight times in success… — Clocks before clocks: sundials, water… · tree and pragmatics
description: Given that a ship's half-hour glass is turned eight times in succession, determine the aggregate period measured. Exam question 2 of lesson 122 «Clocks before clocks: sundials, water clocks, candles and hourglasses» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatic
---

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# Exam question 2 · Clocks before clocks: sundials, water clocks, candles and…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Given that a ship's half-hour glass is turned eight times in succession, determine the aggregate period measured.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** give, turn, determine, measure · **To what, where:** hour glass, aggregate period

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 122 «Clocks before clocks: sundials, water clocks, candles and hourglasses» of the world 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/world/122-clocks-before-clocks/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:122-clocks-before-clocks:e2:1
# text = Given that a ship's half-hour glass is turned eight times in succession, determine the aggregate period measured.
1	Given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	mark	_	_
2	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	ship	ship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	8	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	hour	hour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	glass	glass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	turned	turn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	17	advcl	_	_
12	eight	eight	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	13	nummod	_	_
13	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl:unmarked	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	succession	succession	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
17	determine	determine	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	aggregate	aggregate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	compound	_	_
20	period	period	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	_
21	measured	measure	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	20	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	17	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **turn** | present · passive |  | hour glass |  |  | time | in succession | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP PP.recipient PP.theme»: subject=Patient in succession=Topic |
| 3 | **determine** | imperative | you *not said here* | the aggregate period |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent period=Topic |
| 4 | **measure** | participle |  | the aggregate period *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn register-54.1-2-1 «NP V NP.value»: agent=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Forty minutes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:122-clocks-before-clocks:e2:o1:1
# text = Forty minutes
1	Forty	forty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	minutes	minute	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Two hours

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:122-clocks-before-clocks:e2:o2:1
# text = Two hours
1	Two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	hours	hour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Four hours

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:122-clocks-before-clocks:e2:o3:1
# text = Four hours
1	Four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	hours	hour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Eight hours

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:122-clocks-before-clocks:e2:o4:1
# text = Eight hours
1	Eight	eight	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	nummod	_	_
2	hours	hour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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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- ← previous: [Clocks before clocks: sundials, water…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/122-clocks-before-clocks/e1/)
- next →: [Clocks before clocks: sundials, water…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/122-clocks-before-clocks/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Clocks before clocks: sundials, water clocks, candles and hourglasses](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/122-clocks-before-clocks/)