---
title: By what means did the bullock enable the children to cross the sea? — Russian Folk-Tales, Tsar Novishny, par… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did the bullock enable the children to cross the sea? Exam question 2 of lesson 1103 «Russian Folk-Tales, Tsar Novishny, part 9: the children ride a horse, a humble-bee and a bullock away from the serpent, and the bullock gives his life to save them» of the books course of Mova's prima
---

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# Exam question 2 · Russian Folk-Tales, Tsar Novishny, part 9: the children ri…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did the bullock enable the children to cross the sea?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** bullock, children · **What happens:** mean, enable, cross · **To what, where:** children, sea

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1103 «Russian Folk-Tales, Tsar Novishny, part 9: the children ride a horse, a humble-bee and a bullock away from the serpent, and the bullock gives his life to save them» 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/1103-pg29672-part9/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1103-pg29672-part9:e2:1
# text = By what means did the bullock enable the children to cross the sea?
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	obl	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
4	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	bullock	bullock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	enable	enable	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	cross	cross	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **enable** | past · do-support | the bullock | the children |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **cross** | to-infinitive | the children *not said here* | the sea |  |  |  |  | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sea=Patient |

<!-- .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 -->
A brush drawn from his tail became a wall

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1103-pg29672-part9:e2:o1:1
# text = A brush drawn from his tail became a wall
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	brush	brush	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	drawn	draw	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	became	become	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **draw** | participle |  | a brush *not said here* |  |  |  | from his tail | vn split-23.2 «NP V PP.co-patient»: agent=Patient from tail=Co-Patient |
| 2 | **become** | past | a brush | a wall |  |  |  |  | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A bridge from his nose

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1103-pg29672-part9:e2:o2:1
# text = A bridge from his nose
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	bridge	bridge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	nose	nose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A handkerchief drawn from his ear became a bridge

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1103-pg29672-part9:e2:o3:1
# text = A handkerchief drawn from his ear became a bridge
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	handkerchief	handkerchief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	drawn	draw	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	ear	ear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	became	become	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	bridge	bridge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **draw** | participle |  | a handkerchief *not said here* |  |  |  | from his ear | vn split-23.2 «NP V PP.co-patient»: agent=Patient from ear=Co-Patient |
| 2 | **become** | past | a handkerchief | a bridge |  |  |  |  | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A comb drawn from his mouth became a fence

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1103-pg29672-part9:e2:o4:1
# text = A comb drawn from his mouth became a fence
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	comb	comb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	drawn	draw	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	mouth	mouth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	became	become	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	fence	fence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **draw** | participle |  | a comb *not said here* |  |  |  | from his mouth | vn split-23.2 «NP V PP.co-patient»: agent=Patient from mouth=Co-Patient |
| 2 | **become** | past | a comb | a fence |  |  |  |  | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: 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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Russian Folk-Tales, Tsar Novishny, par…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1103-pg29672-part9/e1/)
- next →: [Russian Folk-Tales, Tsar Novishny, par…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1103-pg29672-part9/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Russian Folk-Tales, Tsar Novishny, part 9: the children ride a horse, a humble-bee and a bullock away from the serpent, and the bullock gives his life to save them](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1103-pg29672-part9/)