---
title: With reference to the text, which action did Antoine take in order t… — More Celtic Fairy Tales, The Story of… · tree and pragmatics
description: With reference to the text, which action did Antoine take in order to secure the wolf, and why did this action succeed where his mother's warnings had failed? Exam question 2 of lesson 1294 «More Celtic Fairy Tales, The Story of a Very Bad Boy, part 1: Toueno-Boueno catches a wolf by the tail and se
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1294-pg3454-part19/e2/)

<!-- 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/) / [More Celtic Fairy Tales, The Story of…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1294-pg3454-part19/) / e2

# Exam question 2 · More Celtic Fairy Tales, The Story of a Very Bad Boy, part…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
With reference to the text, which action did Antoine take in order to secure the wolf, and why did this action succeed where his mother's warnings had failed?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Antoine, action, warnings, mother · **What happens:** take in, secure, succeed, fail, warn · **To what, where:** order, wolf

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1294 «More Celtic Fairy Tales, The Story of a Very Bad Boy, part 1: Toueno-Boueno catches a wolf by the tail and sells it as a ram, and the wolf ruins the brothers' sheep» 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/1294-pg3454-part19/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1294-pg3454-part19:e2:1
# text = With reference to the text, which action did Antoine take in order to secure the wolf, and why did this action succeed where his mother's warnings had failed?
1	With	with	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	reference	reference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	text	text	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	8	det	_	_
8	action	action	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
9	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
10	Antoine	Antoine	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	RP	_	11	compound:prt	_	_
13	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	secure	secure	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	advcl	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	wolf	wolf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
20	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	24	advmod	_	_
21	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	aux	_	_
22	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	23	det	_	_
23	action	action	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	nsubj	_	_
24	succeed	succeed	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	conj	_	_
25	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	31	advmod	_	_
26	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	27	nmod:poss	_	_
27	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	's	's	PART	POS	_	27	case	_	_
29	warnings	warning	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	31	nsubj	_	_
30	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	31	aux	_	_
31	failed	fail	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	24	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take in** | past · do-support | Antoine | order |  |  |  | with reference to the text and which action | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent order=Theme |
| 2 | **secure** | to-infinitive | Antoine *not said here* | the wolf |  |  |  |  | vn ensure-99 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition wolf=Theme |
| 3 | **succeed** | past · do-support | this action |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **fail** | past · perfect | action's mother's warnings |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **warn** |  | action's mother |  |  |  |  |  | nom warning «communication 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 tied the wolf's legs, because the wolf was too weak to run

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1294-pg3454-part19:e2:o1:1
# text = He tied the wolf's legs, because the wolf was too weak to run
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	tied	tie	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	wolf	wolf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
8	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	wolf	wolf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
11	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
12	too	too	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	weak	weak	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	run	run	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tie** | past | He | the wolf's legs |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent leg=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | past | the wolf |  |  |  |  | weak *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **run** | to-infinitive | the wolf *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He seized the wolf's tail, because the wolf had already been caught by the three brothers and could not turn its head to look behind, so the mother warned him

<!-- fold The tree, 31 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1294-pg3454-part19:e2:o2:1
# text = He seized the wolf's tail, because the wolf had already been caught by the three brothers and could not turn its head to look behind, so the mother warned him
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	seized	seize	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	wolf	wolf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
8	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	wolf	wolf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
12	already	already	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
13	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	14	aux:pass	_	_
14	caught	catch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	conj	_	_
15	by	by	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	18	nummod	_	_
18	brothers	brother	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
20	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	_
21	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	22	advmod	_	_
22	turn	turn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	conj	_	_
23	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	24	nmod:poss	_	_
24	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obj	_	_
25	to	to	PART	TO	_	26	mark	_	_
26	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	22	advcl	_	_
27	behind	behind	ADV	RB	_	26	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	_
29	so	so	ADV	RB	_	32	advmod	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	nsubj	_	_
32	warned	warn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
33	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	32	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **seize** | past | He | the wolf's tail |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tail=Theme |
| 2 | **catch** | past · perfect · passive | the three brothers | the wolf |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |
| 3 | **not** **turn** | could | He *not said here* | wolf's head |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent head=Theme |
| 4 | **look** | to-infinitive | He *not said here* |  |  |  |  | behind *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 5 | **warn** *speech: warn* | past | the mother |  | him *= he* |  |  |  | vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He seized the wolf's tail, because the wolf could not turn its head to look behind

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1294-pg3454-part19:e2:o3:1
# text = He seized the wolf's tail, because the wolf could not turn its head to look behind
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	seized	seize	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	wolf	wolf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
8	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	wolf	wolf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
11	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
12	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	turn	turn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	conj	_	_
14	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
17	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	advcl	_	_
18	behind	behind	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **seize** | past | He | the wolf's tail |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tail=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **turn** | could | the wolf | wolf's head |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent head=Theme |
| 3 | **look** | to-infinitive | the wolf *not said here* |  |  |  |  | behind *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He seized the wolf's tail after his mother had warned him many times, because the wolf could not turn its head to look behind it and thus the trap worked

<!-- fold The tree, 31 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1294-pg3454-part19:e2:o4:1
# text = He seized the wolf's tail after his mother had warned him many times, because the wolf could not turn its head to look behind it and thus the trap worked
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	seized	seize	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	wolf	wolf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	after	after	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
10	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	warned	warn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
12	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obj	_	_
13	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
16	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	wolf	wolf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nsubj	_	_
19	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	_
20	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	21	advmod	_	_
21	turn	turn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	conj	_	_
22	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	23	nmod:poss	_	_
23	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obj	_	_
24	to	to	PART	TO	_	25	mark	_	_
25	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	21	advcl	_	_
26	behind	behind	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
27	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	obl	_	_
28	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	32	cc	_	_
29	thus	thus	ADV	RB	_	32	advmod	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	trap	trap	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	nsubj	_	_
32	worked	work	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **seize** | past | He | the wolf's tail |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tail=Theme |
| 2 | **warn** *speech: warn* | past · perfect | his mother |  | him *= he* |  | time |  | vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |
| 3 | **not** **turn** | could | the wolf | wolf's head |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent head=Theme |
| 4 | **look** | to-infinitive | the wolf *not said here* |  |  |  |  | behind wolf | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent behind it=Theme |
| 5 | **work** | past | the trap |  |  |  |  | thus *property* | vn employment-95.3 «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: [More Celtic Fairy Tales, The Story of…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1294-pg3454-part19/e1/)
- next →: [More Celtic Fairy Tales, The Story of…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1294-pg3454-part19/e3/)
- ↑ back to [More Celtic Fairy Tales, The Story of a Very Bad Boy, part 1: Toueno-Boueno catches a wolf by the tail and sells it as a ram, and the wolf ruins the brothers' sheep](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1294-pg3454-part19/)