---
title: how'd sailors work out longitude at sea back then — Explorers and how the world was mapped · tree and pragmatics
description: how'd sailors work out longitude at sea back then Test 11 · ★★ of lesson 98 «Explorers and how the world was mapped» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 11 · ★★ · Explorers and how the world was mapped

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
how'd sailors work out longitude at sea back then

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** 'd sailors · **What happens:** work out · **To what, where:** longitude, sea

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★★ of lesson 98 «Explorers and how the world was mapped» 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/98-explorers-mapping-the-world/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:98-explorers-mapping-the-world:t11:1
# text = how'd sailors work out longitude at sea back then
1	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	'd	'd	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	sailors	sailor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	work	work	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	out	out	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
6	longitude	longitude	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	back	back	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
10	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **work out** | present | 'd sailors | longitude |  | sea | then |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent longitude=Topic |

<!-- .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 -->
By counting the stars at midnight

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:98-explorers-mapping-the-world:t11:o1:1
# text = By counting the stars at midnight
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	counting	count	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	midnight	midnight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **count** | gerund |  | the stars |  |  | midnight |  | vn multiply-108 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent star=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By looking at the colour of the water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:98-explorers-mapping-the-world:t11:o2:1
# text = By looking at the colour of the water
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | at the colour of the water | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at colour=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By measuring how deep the sea was

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:98-explorers-mapping-the-world:t11:o3:1
# text = By measuring how deep the sea was
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	measuring	measure	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
4	deep	deep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **measure** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn register-54.1-2-1 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | past | the sea |  |  |  |  | deep *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
With an accurate clock comparing local time with home time

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:98-explorers-mapping-the-world:t11:o4:1
# text = With an accurate clock comparing local time with home time
1	With	with	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	accurate	accurate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	clock	clock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	comparing	compare	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	acl	_	_
6	local	local	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **compare** | gerund | a accurate clock *not said here* |  |  |  | time |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-2 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient |

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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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