---
title: Which of the following best characterises the role of the old raven… — Andersen's Tales, The Story of the Yea… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following best characterises the role of the old raven within the narrative as a whole? Exam question 4 of lesson 1031 «Andersen's Tales, The Story of the Year: sparrows, Winter and the two children of Spring» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pr
---

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# Exam question 4 · Andersen's Tales, The Story of the Year: sparrows, Winter…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following best characterises the role of the old raven within the narrative as a whole?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** role

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 1031 «Andersen's Tales, The Story of the Year: sparrows, Winter and the two children of Spring» 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/1031-pg27200-part242/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1031-pg27200-part242:e4:1
# text = Which of the following best characterises the role of the old raven within the narrative as a whole?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	4	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	6	amod	_	_
6	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	role	role	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	raven	raven	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
13	within	within	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	narrative	narrative	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
16	as	as	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	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 role of the old raven within the narrative |  |  |  | as a whole | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
He is the leader of the flock who decides when the sparrows should fly away from the town each year

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1031-pg27200-part242:e4:o1:1
# text = He is the leader of the flock who decides when the sparrows should fly away from the town each year
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	leader	leader	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	flock	flock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
9	decides	decide	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
10	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	14	mark	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	sparrows	sparrow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
13	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	parataxis	_	_
15	away	away	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
16	from	from	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
19	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	20	det	_	_
20	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | He | the leader |  |  |  | of the flock | tree rules |
| 2 | **decide** | present | the flock |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **fly away** | should | the sparrows |  |  | the town | year | away *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme from town=Trajectory |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He helps the sparrows by warning them about the cold and the snow on the fence

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1031-pg27200-part242:e4:o2:1
# text = He helps the sparrows by warning them about the cold and the snow on the fence
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	helps	help	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	sparrows	sparrow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	warning	warn	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
7	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	about	about	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	cold	cold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	snow	snow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	_
14	on	on	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	fence	fence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **help** | present | He | the sparrows |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sparrow=Beneficiary |
| 2 | **warn** *speech: warn* | gerund | He *not said here* |  | sparrows *= sparrow* | the fence |  | about the cold and the snow | vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP PP.topic»: agent=Agent they=Recipient about cold=Topic |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He supplies the sparrows with information concerning the identity of the white old man

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1031-pg27200-part242:e4:o3:1
# text = He supplies the sparrows with information concerning the identity of the white old man
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	supplies	supply	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	sparrows	sparrow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	information	information	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	concerning	concern	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	acl	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	identity	identity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
12	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
13	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **supply** | present | He | the sparrows |  |  |  | with information | vn fulfilling-13.4.1-1 «NP V NP-Fulfilling PP.theme»: agent=Agent sparrow=Recipient with information=Theme |
| 2 | **concern** | gerund | information *not said here* | the identity of the white old man |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus identity=Experiencer |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He tells the sparrows who the white man on the heap of snow is and why he sits there

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1031-pg27200-part242:e4:o4:1
# text = He tells the sparrows who the white man on the heap of snow is and why he sits there
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	tells	tell	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	sparrows	sparrow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	14	obj	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
9	on	on	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	heap	heap	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	snow	snow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
14	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
16	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	18	advmod	_	_
17	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
18	sits	sit	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
19	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	18	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present | He | the sparrows |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent sparrow=Recipient |
| 2 | **be** | present | the white man on the heap of snow | the sparrows |  |  |  |  | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot who=Theme |
| 3 | **sit** | present | man |  |  | there |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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