---
title: Which of the following describes the principal means by which Ball-C… — Myths and Legends of the Sioux, How Ba… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following describes the principal means by which Ball-Carrier defeated the sister-in-law in the contest? Exam question 2 of lesson 1211 «Myths and Legends of the Sioux, How Ball-carrier Finished His Task, part 12: Lung-Woman is scalded and the Bad One drowns» of the books course of Mova
---

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# Exam question 2 · Myths and Legends of the Sioux, How Ball-carrier Finished…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following describes the principal means by which Ball-Carrier defeated the sister-in-law in the contest?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** principal, Ball · **What happens:** follow, describe, mean, defeat · **To what, where:** sister, law · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1211 «Myths and Legends of the Sioux, How Ball-carrier Finished His Task, part 12: Lung-Woman is scalded and the Bad One drowns» 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/1211-pg3282-part12/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1211-pg3282-part12:e2:1
# text = Which of the following describes the principal means by which Ball-Carrier defeated the sister-in-law in the contest?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	obj	_	_
2	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	nsubj	_	_
5	describes	describe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	principal	principal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	obl	_	_
11	Ball	Ball	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	Carrier	Carrier	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	flat	_	_
14	defeated	defeat	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	ccomp	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	sister	sister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	_
21	in	in	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	contest	contest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	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 | **describe** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent which=Theme |
| 3 | **mean** | present | the principal |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **defeat** | past | Ball | the sister |  | law |  | in the contest | 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 -->
By running very fast

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1211-pg3282-part12:e2:o1:1
# text = By running very fast
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	running	run	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	very	very	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **run** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | fast *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By disguising as a fast swallow in the sky

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1211-pg3282-part12:e2:o2:1
# text = By disguising as a fast swallow in the sky
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	disguising	disguise	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	as	as	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	fast	fast	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	swallow	swallow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	sky	sky	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **disguise** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | as a fast swallow; in the sky | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent in sky=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By turning into a quick wolf and biting her

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1211-pg3282-part12:e2:o3:1
# text = By turning into a quick wolf and biting her
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	turning	turn	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	into	into	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	quick	quick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	wolf	wolf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	biting	bite	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
9	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **turn** | gerund |  |  |  | a quick wolf |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme into wolf=Trajectory |
| 2 | **bite** | gerund |  | her *= she* |  |  |  |  | vn swat-18.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent she=Patient |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By transforming himself into a swift humming bird

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1211-pg3282-part12:e2:o4:1
# text = By transforming himself into a swift humming bird
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	transforming	transform	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	2	obj	_	_
4	into	into	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	swift	swift	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	humming	hum	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	amod	_	_
8	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **transform** | gerund |  | himself *= he* |  |  |  | into a humming bird *result* | vn turn-26.6.1 «NP V NP.patient PP.result»: agent=Agent himself=Patient into bird=Result |
| 2 | **hum** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn bulge-47.5.3 «NP V»: agent=Location |

<!-- 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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- ← previous: [Myths and Legends of the Sioux, How Ba…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1211-pg3282-part12/e1/)
- next →: [Myths and Legends of the Sioux, How Ba…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1211-pg3282-part12/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Myths and Legends of the Sioux, How Ball-carrier Finished His Task, part 12: Lung-Woman is scalded and the Bad One drowns](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1211-pg3282-part12/)