---
title: Identify the principal reason for which a household telephone line c… — "In the olden days": Grandad's 1990 · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which a household telephone line could not be employed for calls during an internet session in the 1990s. Exam question 2 of lesson 126 «"In the olden days": Grandad's 1990» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the
---

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# Exam question 2 · "In the olden days": Grandad's 1990

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which a household telephone line could not be employed for calls during an internet session in the 1990s.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, not employ · **To what, where:** principal reason, telephone line

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 126 «"In the olden days": Grandad's 1990» 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/126-in-the-olden-days/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:126-in-the-olden-days:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which a household telephone line could not be employed for calls during an internet session in the 1990s.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	obl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
8	household	household	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	telephone	telephone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	line	line	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
12	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
13	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	aux:pass	_	_
14	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl:relcl	_	_
15	for	for	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	calls	call	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	_
17	during	during	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
18	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	internet	internet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	compound	_	_
20	session	session	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
21	in	in	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	1990s	1990s	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan|NumForm=Combi|NumType=Card	20	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **employ** | could · passive |  | a telephone line |  |  | during a internet session in the 1990s | for the principal reason; for calls | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP PP.predicate»: subject=Theme for which=Eventuality |

<!-- .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 -->
Telephone calls were prohibited by law during such sessions

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:126-in-the-olden-days:e2:o1:1
# text = Telephone calls were prohibited by law during such sessions
1	Telephone	telephone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	calls	call	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	prohibited	prohibit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	during	during	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	sessions	session	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prohibit** | past · passive | law | Telephone calls |  |  | during such sessions |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer subject=Theme |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The connection to the internet occupied that same telephone line

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:126-in-the-olden-days:e2:o2:1
# text = The connection to the internet occupied that same telephone line
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	connection	connection	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	internet	internet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	occupied	occupy	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	10	nsubj	_	_
8	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
9	telephone	telephone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	line	line	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **occupy** | past | the connection to the internet |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **line** |  | that |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Calls could be made only after midnight

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:126-in-the-olden-days:e2:o3:1
# text = Calls could be made only after midnight
1	Calls	call	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
6	after	after	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	midnight	midnight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | could · passive |  | Calls |  |  | midnight |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The modem disabled all telephones within the district

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:126-in-the-olden-days:e2:o4:1
# text = The modem disabled all telephones within the district
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	modem	modem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	disabled	disable	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	det	_	_
5	telephones	telephone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	within	within	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	district	district	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **disable** | past | the modem | all telephones |  |  |  | within the district | vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent telephone=Patient |

<!-- 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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