---
title: What does the narrator state about the mother's reason for permittin… — Andersen's Tales, The Ugly Duckling, p… · tree and pragmatics
description: What does the narrator state about the mother's reason for permitting the ducklings to observe the leaves? Exam question 4 of lesson 1011 «Andersen's Tales, The Ugly Duckling, part 1: the ducklings hatch under the burdock leaves» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree
---

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# Exam question 4 · Andersen's Tales, The Ugly Duckling, part 1: the ducklings…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What does the narrator state about the mother's reason for permitting the ducklings to observe the leaves?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** reason · **What happens:** do, permit, observe · **To what, where:** ducklings, leaves

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 1011 «Andersen's Tales, The Ugly Duckling, part 1: the ducklings hatch under the burdock leaves» of the books 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/books/1011-pg27200-part222/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1011-pg27200-part222:e4:1
# text = What does the narrator state about the mother's reason for permitting the ducklings to observe the leaves?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl:relcl	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	narrator	narrator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	state	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
6	about	about	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
11	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
12	permitting	permit	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	acl	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	ducklings	duckling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obj	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
16	observe	observe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	advcl	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **permit** | gerund | the mother's reason *not said here* | the ducklings |  |  |  |  | vn admit-64.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent duckling=Theme |
| 3 | **observe** | to-infinitive | the mother's reason *not said here* | the leaves |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent leaf=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That they must eat the leaves

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1011-pg27200-part222:e4:o1:1
# text = That they must eat the leaves
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | must | That | the leaves |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent leaf=Patient |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That green is good for the eyes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1011-pg27200-part222:e4:o2:1
# text = That green is good for the eyes
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	green	green	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | that green |  |  |  |  | for the eyes; good *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To keep them warm

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1011-pg27200-part222:e4:o3:1
# text = To keep them warm
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	keep	keep	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	warm	warm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | to-infinitive |  | them *= they* |  |  |  | warm *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That the leaves are sweet to see

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1011-pg27200-part222:e4:o4:1
# text = That the leaves are sweet to see
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	nsubj	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	sweet	sweet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | That |  |  |  |  | sweet *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **see** | to-infinitive | That *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

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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: [Andersen's Tales, The Ugly Duckling, p…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1011-pg27200-part222/e3/)
- next →: [Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Ugly Duckl…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1012-pg27200-part223/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Andersen's Tales, The Ugly Duckling, part 1: the ducklings hatch under the burdock leaves](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1011-pg27200-part222/)