---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Decades, centuries and millennia · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the designation "the eighties", as employed in the phrase "a teenager in the eighties"? Exam question 2 of lesson 124 «Decades, centuries and millennia» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmati
---

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# Exam question 2 · Decades, centuries and millennia

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the designation "the eighties", as employed in the phrase "a teenager in the eighties"?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris, employ · **To what, where:** designation, phrase

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 124 «Decades, centuries and millennia» 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/124-decades-centuries-millennia/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:124-decades-centuries-millennia:e2:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the designation "the eighties", as employed in the phrase "a teenager in the eighties"?
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	designation	designation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	eighties	eighties	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
16	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
17	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	advcl	_	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	phrase	phrase	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	_
21	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	23	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	teenager	teenager	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	appos	_	_
24	in	in	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	eighties	eighties	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	23	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	?	?	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 designation |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **employ** | participle |  |  |  | the phrase |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=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 -->
The decade comprising the years 1880 to 1889 inclusive

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:124-decades-centuries-millennia:e2:o1:1
# text = The decade comprising the years 1880 to 1889 inclusive
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	decade	decade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	comprising	comprise	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	1880	1880	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	5	flat	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	1889	1889	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	6	nmod	_	_
9	inclusive	inclusive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **comprise** | gerund | the decade *not said here* |  |  |  | year | inclusive *property* | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The century comprising the years 1800 to 1899 inclusive

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:124-decades-centuries-millennia:e2:o2:1
# text = The century comprising the years 1800 to 1899 inclusive
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	century	century	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	comprising	comprise	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	1800	1800	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	5	flat	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	1899	1899	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	6	nmod	_	_
9	inclusive	inclusive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **comprise** | gerund | the century *not said here* |  |  |  | year | inclusive *property* | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The decade comprising the years 1980 to 1989 inclusive

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:124-decades-centuries-millennia:e2:o3:1
# text = The decade comprising the years 1980 to 1989 inclusive
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	decade	decade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	comprising	comprise	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	1980	1980	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	5	nmod	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	1989	1989	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	6	nmod	_	_
9	inclusive	inclusive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **comprise** | gerund | the decade *not said here* |  |  |  | year | inclusive *property* | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A period commencing eighty years before the present

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:124-decades-centuries-millennia:e2:o4:1
# text = A period commencing eighty years before the present
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	period	period	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	commencing	commence	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	eighty	eighty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	before	before	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	present	present	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **commence** | gerund | a period *not said here* |  |  |  | before the present; year |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

<!-- div src -->

**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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