---
title: Which phrase best describes the wood-cutter's customary occupation b… — Eastern Tales, Fortune and the Wood-Cu… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which phrase best describes the wood-cutter's customary occupation before he resolved to remain abed? Exam question 1 of lesson 1234 «Eastern Tales, Fortune and the Wood-Cutter: a lazy man lies in bed while his mules bring home gold» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency 
---

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# Exam question 1 · Eastern Tales, Fortune and the Wood-Cutter: a lazy man lie…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which phrase best describes the wood-cutter's customary occupation before he resolved to remain abed?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** phrase, wood cutter · **What happens:** describe, resolve, remain, occupy · **To what, where:** customary occupation

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 1234 «Eastern Tales, Fortune and the Wood-Cutter: a lazy man lies in bed while his mules bring home gold» 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/1234-pg3282-part35/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1234-pg3282-part35:e1:1
# text = Which phrase best describes the wood-cutter's customary occupation before he resolved to remain abed?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	phrase	phrase	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	best	well	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	4	advmod	_	_
4	describes	describe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	cutter	cutter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	customary	customary	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	occupation	occupation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
12	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
13	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	resolved	resolve	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
16	remain	remain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	xcomp	_	_
17	abed	abed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **describe** | present | which phrase | the wood cutter's customary occupation |  |  |  | well *property* | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent occupation=Theme |
| 2 | **resolve** | past | phrase |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **remain** | to-infinitive | phrase *not said here* |  |  |  |  | abed *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **occupy** |  | the wood cutter |  |  |  |  |  | nom occupation «act transitive»: 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 worked as a miller in town

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1234-pg3282-part35:e1:o1:1
# text = He worked as a miller in town
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	worked	work	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	as	as	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	miller	miller	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **work** | past | He |  |  |  |  | as a miller; in town | vn employment-95.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent in town=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He laboured daily as a timber-cutter in the forest

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1234-pg3282-part35:e1:o2:1
# text = He laboured daily as a timber-cutter in the forest
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	laboured	labour	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	daily	daily	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	as	as	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	timber	timber	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	cutter	cutter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	forest	forest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **labour** | past | He |  |  | the forest |  | as a timber cutter; daily *property* | vn work-73.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He chopped wood

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1234-pg3282-part35:e1:o3:1
# text = He chopped wood
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	chopped	chop	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **chop** | past | He | wood |  |  |  |  | vn carve-21.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wood=Patient |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was a farmer who tended sheep on the hills

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1234-pg3282-part35:e1:o4:1
# text = He was a farmer who tended sheep on the hills
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	farmer	farmer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
6	tended	tend	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
7	sheep	sheep	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
8	on	on	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	hills	hill	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | He | a farmer |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **tend** | past | a farmer | sheep |  | the hills |  |  | vn caring-75.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sheep=Theme |

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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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