---
title: Which of the following was the serpent's first task to the prince? — Russian Tales, Ivan Golik, part 37: Iv… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following was the serpent's first task to the prince? Exam question 1 of lesson 1131 «Russian Tales, Ivan Golik, part 37: Ivan's animal helpers win the serpent's tasks» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each opti
---

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# Exam question 1 · Russian Tales, Ivan Golik, part 37: Ivan's animal helpers…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following was the serpent's first task to the prince?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, be

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This is exam question 1 of lesson 1131 «Russian Tales, Ivan Golik, part 37: Ivan's animal helpers win the serpent's tasks» 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/1131-pg29672-part37/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1131-pg29672-part37:e1:1
# text = Which of the following was the serpent's first task to the prince?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	10	case	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	serpent	serpent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	10	amod	_	_
10	task	task	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	10	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 | **is** | past |  |  |  |  |  | of the serpent's first task; to the prince | 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Threshing three hundred ricks of corn before the morning light

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1131-pg29672-part37:e1:o1:1
# text = Threshing three hundred ricks of corn before the morning light
1	Threshing	thresh	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	compound	_	_
3	hundred	hundred	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	ricks	rick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	corn	corn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	before	before	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	morning	morning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **thresh** | gerund |  | hundred ricks of corn |  |  | before the morning light |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **rick** |  |  | corn |  |  |  |  | nom rick «state transitive»: of=patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Threshing three hundred ricks of corn

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1131-pg29672-part37:e1:o2:1
# text = Threshing three hundred ricks of corn
1	Threshing	thresh	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	compound	_	_
3	hundred	hundred	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	ricks	rick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	corn	corn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **thresh** | gerund |  | hundred ricks of corn |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **rick** |  |  | corn |  |  |  |  | nom rick «state transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Threshing and sifting all of the three hundred ricks of corn in the barn

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1131-pg29672-part37:e1:o3:1
# text = Threshing and sifting all of the three hundred ricks of corn in the barn
1	Threshing	thresh	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	sifting	sift	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
4	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
7	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	compound	_	_
8	hundred	hundred	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	ricks	rick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	corn	corn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	barn	barn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **thresh** | gerund |  | all |  | the barn |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **sift** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn disassemble-23.3 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **rick** |  |  | corn |  |  |  |  | nom rick «state transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Threshing the barley in the field

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1131-pg29672-part37:e1:o4:1
# text = Threshing the barley in the field
1	Threshing	thresh	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	barley	barley	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	field	field	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **thresh** | gerund |  | the barley |  | the field |  |  | tree rules |

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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 Tales, Ivan Golik, part 37: Iv…, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1131-pg29672-part37/t12/)
- next →: [Russian Tales, Ivan Golik, part 37: Iv…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1131-pg29672-part37/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Russian Tales, Ivan Golik, part 37: Ivan's animal helpers win the serpent's tasks](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1131-pg29672-part37/)