---
title: Which creatures does the narrator describe as remaining at a distanc… — Old Indian Legends, Dance in a Buffalo… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which creatures does the narrator describe as remaining at a distance, unwilling to approach the fire? Exam question 2 of lesson 1272 «Old Indian Legends, Dance in a Buffalo Skull: mice feast until fiery eyes creep into their skull» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency t
---

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# Exam question 2 · Old Indian Legends, Dance in a Buffalo Skull: mice feast u…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which creatures does the narrator describe as remaining at a distance, unwilling to approach the fire?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** creatures · **What happens:** describe, remain, unwill, approach · **To what, where:** fire

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1272 «Old Indian Legends, Dance in a Buffalo Skull: mice feast until fiery eyes creep into their skull» 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/1272-pg338-part9/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1272-pg338-part9:e2:1
# text = Which creatures does the narrator describe as remaining at a distance, unwilling to approach the fire?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	creatures	creature	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	narrator	narrator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	describe	describe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
8	remaining	remain	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	advcl	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	distance	distance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
13	unwilling	unwill	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	conj	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	approach	approach	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	xcomp	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **describe** | present · do-support | which creatures |  |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **remain** | gerund | which creatures *not said here* |  |  |  |  | at a distance | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at distance=Location |
| 3 | **unwill** | gerund | which creatures *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **approach** | to-infinitive | which creatures *not said here* | the fire |  |  |  |  | vn confront-98 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fire=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
The owls

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1272-pg338-part9:e2:o1:1
# text = The owls
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	owls	owl	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The coyotes, sitting in the grass

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1272-pg338-part9:e2:o2:1
# text = The coyotes, sitting in the grass
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	coyotes	coyote	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
4	sitting	sit	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sit** | gerund | the coyotes |  |  | the grass |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in grass=Location |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The wolves, howling from afar

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1272-pg338-part9:e2:o3:1
# text = The wolves, howling from afar
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	wolves	wolf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	howling	howl	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	afar	afar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **howl** | gerund | the wolves |  |  | afar |  |  | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The mice

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1272-pg338-part9:e2:o4:1
# text = The mice
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	mice	mouse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

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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.

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