---
title: Which phrase in the text describes the old man's reaction when he is… — Russian Fairy Tales, The Old Man Who W… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which phrase in the text describes the old man's reaction when he is told he must attend school? Exam question 1 of lesson 1124 «Russian Fairy Tales, The Old Man Who Went to School: an old man is sent to school, a nobleman gives him a purse, and his sons are tricked» of the books course of Mova's pr
---

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# Exam question 1 · Russian Fairy Tales, The Old Man Who Went to School: an ol…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which phrase in the text describes the old man's reaction when he is told he must attend school?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** phrase, old man · **What happens:** describe, tell, attend, react · **To what, where:** reaction, phrase, school · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 1124 «Russian Fairy Tales, The Old Man Who Went to School: an old man is sent to school, a nobleman gives him a purse, and his sons are tricked» 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/1124-pg29672-part30/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1124-pg29672-part30:e1:1
# text = Which phrase in the text describes the old man's reaction when he is told he must attend school?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	phrase	phrase	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	text	text	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	describes	describe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	reaction	reaction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
12	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	15	mark	_	_
13	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux:pass	_	_
15	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	advcl	_	_
16	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
17	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
18	attend	attend	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	xcomp	_	_
19	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **describe** | present | which phrase in the text | the old man's reaction |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reaction=Theme |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present · passive |  | phrase |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 3 | **attend** *not said to happen* | must | phrase | school |  |  |  |  | vn attend-107.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme school=Goal |
| 4 | **react** |  | the old man |  |  |  |  |  | nom reaction «process intransitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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 was forced to go although he cried out that he was too old to learn anything at all

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1124-pg29672-part30:e1:o1:1
# text = he was forced to go although he cried out that he was too old to learn anything at all
1	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	forced	force	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	although	although	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	cried	cry	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
9	out	out	ADP	RP	_	8	compound:prt	_	_
10	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
11	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
12	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
13	too	too	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	advcl	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
16	learn	learn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	advcl	_	_
17	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	16	obj	_	_
18	at	at	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	17	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **force** | past · passive |  | he |  |  |  |  | vn urge-58.1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **go** | to-infinitive | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **cry out** *speech: express* | past | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | old *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **learn** | to-infinitive | he *not said here* | anything |  | all |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent anything=Topic |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"his children prevailed against his feeble old voice"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1124-pg29672-part30:e1:o2:1
# text = "his children prevailed against his feeble old voice"
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	prevailed	prevail	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	against	against	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
7	feeble	feeble	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
8	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	voice	voice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prevail** *in a quote* | past | his children |  |  | his feeble old voice |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme against voice=Location |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
he tried to speak but his sons ignored him at the door

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1124-pg29672-part30:e1:o3:1
# text = he tried to speak but his sons ignored him at the door
1	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	speak	speak	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	sons	son	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	ignored	ignore	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
9	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
10	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	door	door	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | past | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **speak** *speech: other* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **ignore** | past | his sons | him *= he* |  | the door |  |  | vn neglect-75.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
his sons overruled him, and he wept, saying that he was far too old to learn his letters

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1124-pg29672-part30:e1:o4:1
# text = his sons overruled him, and he wept, saying that he was far too old to learn his letters
1	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	sons	son	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	overruled	overrule	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	wept	weep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	advcl	_	_
11	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
12	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
13	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
14	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	16	advmod	_	_
15	too	too	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	ccomp	_	_
17	to	to	PART	TO	_	18	mark	_	_
18	learn	learn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	advcl	_	_
19	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	20	nmod:poss	_	_
20	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **overrule** | past | his sons | him *= he* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **weep** | past | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is** | past | he |  |  |  |  | far, old *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **learn** | to-infinitive | he *not said here* | his letters |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent letter=Topic |
| 6 | **letter** |  | his *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom letter «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- 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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