---
title: By what means did the Shifty Lad ascertain the presence of the black… — Celtic Fairy Tales, The Shifty Lad: th… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did the Shifty Lad ascertain the presence of the black mark upon his cheek? Exam question 1 of lesson 1279 «Celtic Fairy Tales, The Shifty Lad: the Shifty Lad wins the princess, then dies on the bridge of Dublin» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree an
---

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# Exam question 1 · Celtic Fairy Tales, The Shifty Lad: the Shifty Lad wins th…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did the Shifty Lad ascertain the presence of the black mark upon his cheek?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Shifty Lad · **What happens:** mean, do, ascertain · **To what, where:** presence · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is exam question 1 of lesson 1279 «Celtic Fairy Tales, The Shifty Lad: the Shifty Lad wins the princess, then dies on the bridge of Dublin» 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/1279-pg3454-part4/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1279-pg3454-part4:e1:1
# text = By what means did the Shifty Lad ascertain the presence of the black mark upon his cheek?
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	Shifty	shifty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	Lad	Lad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	presence	presence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	mark	mark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
15	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
17	cheek	cheek	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **do** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **ascertain** | present | the Shifty Lad | the presence of the black mark upon Lad's cheek |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent presence=Topic |

<!-- .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 looking in a polished bowl

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1279-pg3454-part4:e1:o1:1
# text = By looking in a polished bowl
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	polished	polish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	_
6	bowl	bowl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | in a polished bowl | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent in bowl=Theme |
| 2 | **polish** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn butter-9.9 «NP V NP.destination»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By viewing it in a looking glass

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1279-pg3454-part4:e1:o2:1
# text = By viewing it in a looking glass
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	viewing	view	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	looking	look	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	amod	_	_
7	glass	glass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **view** | gerund |  | it |  | a looking glass |  |  | vn sight-30.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |
| 2 | **look** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By checking in a silver glass

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1279-pg3454-part4:e1:o3:1
# text = By checking in a silver glass
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	checking	check	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	silver	silver	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	glass	glass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **check** | gerund |  |  |  | a silver glass |  |  | vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in glass=Location |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By observing it in a silver mirror

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1279-pg3454-part4:e1:o4:1
# text = By observing it in a silver mirror
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	observing	observe	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	silver	silver	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	mirror	mirror	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **observe** | gerund |  | it |  | a silver mirror |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent it=Topic |

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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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