---
title: State the reason the king gives for preferring the death of the prin… — Fairy Book, The Old Woman and the Prin… · tree and pragmatics
description: State the reason the king gives for preferring the death of the prince to his public humiliation. Exam question 3 of lesson 1280 «Fairy Book, The Old Woman and the Prince: a condemned youth wins a strange marriage and proves he is the king's true son» of the books course of Mova's primary school, wi
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1280-pg3454-part5/e3/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/) / [Fairy Book, The Old Woman and the Prin…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1280-pg3454-part5/) / e3

# Exam question 3 · Fairy Book, The Old Woman and the Prince: a condemned yout…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
State the reason the king gives for preferring the death of the prince to his public humiliation.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** State, prince, king · **What happens:** give, prefer, die, humiliate · **To what, where:** death

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1280 «Fairy Book, The Old Woman and the Prince: a condemned youth wins a strange marriage and proves he is the king's true son» 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/1280-pg3454-part5/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1280-pg3454-part5:e3:1
# text = State the reason the king gives for preferring the death of the prince to his public humiliation.
1	State	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:outer	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	gives	give	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
8	preferring	prefer	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	advcl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	to	to	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
16	public	public	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	humiliation	humiliation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | present | State |  |  |  |  |  | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **prefer** | gerund | State *not said here* | the death of the prince |  |  |  | to king's public humiliation | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer death=Stimulus |
| 3 | **die** |  | the prince |  |  |  |  |  | nom death «event intransitive»: of=agent |
| 4 | **humiliate** |  | king |  |  |  |  |  | nom humiliation «state 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 -->
To be feared

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1280-pg3454-part5:e3:o1:1
# text = To be feared
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	3	mark	_	_
2	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	feared	fear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fear** | to-infinitive · passive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn marvel-31.3 «NP V» |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Honour demanded the boy's life, since the insult could not be borne quietly

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1280-pg3454-part5:e3:o2:1
# text = Honour demanded the boy's life, since the insult could not be borne quietly
1	Honour	honour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	demanded	demand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
8	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	insult	insult	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
12	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
13	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	aux:pass	_	_
14	borne	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	conj	_	_
15	quietly	quietly	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **demand** *speech: request* | past | Honour | the boy's life |  |  |  |  | vn require-103-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme life=Precondition |
| 2 | **not** **bear** | could · passive |  | the insult |  |  |  | quietly *property* | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He would rather the prince were dead than that the injury go unavenged

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1280-pg3454-part5:e3:o3:1
# text = He would rather the prince were dead than that the injury go unavenged
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
3	rather	rather	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
8	than	than	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
9	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	injury	injury	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
13	unavenged	unavenged	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | would | He |  |  |  |  | dead *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **go** | infinitive | the injury |  |  |  |  | unavenged *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He would not let the insult stand, so the prince must answer for it with his life

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1280-pg3454-part5:e3:o4:1
# text = He would not let the insult stand, so the prince must answer for it with his life
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	insult	insult	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	stand	stand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
12	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	answer	answer	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obl	_	_
16	with	with	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **let** | would | He | the insult |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **stand** | infinitive | the insult *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **answer** *speech: assert* | must | the prince |  |  |  |  | for insult; with prince's life | vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Fairy Book, The Old Woman and the Prin…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1280-pg3454-part5/e2/)
- next →: [Fairy Book, The Old Woman and the Prin…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1280-pg3454-part5/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Fairy Book, The Old Woman and the Prince: a condemned youth wins a strange marriage and proves he is the king's true son](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1280-pg3454-part5/)