---
title: Which action of the old woman is described as the direct cause of th… — Japanese Fairy Tales, The Tongue-Cut S… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which action of the old woman is described as the direct cause of the sparrow's injury? Exam question 1 of lesson 1343 «Japanese Fairy Tales, The Tongue-Cut Sparrow, part 3: the old man finds the sparrow, who is really a fairy» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree a
---

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# Exam question 1 · Japanese Fairy Tales, The Tongue-Cut Sparrow, part 3: the…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which action of the old woman is described as the direct cause of the sparrow's injury?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** old woman, sparrow · **What happens:** describe, act, cause, injure · **To what, where:** action, injury

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 1343 «Japanese Fairy Tales, The Tongue-Cut Sparrow, part 3: the old man finds the sparrow, who is really a fairy» 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/1343-pg4018-part3/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1343-pg4018-part3:e1:1
# text = Which action of the old woman is described as the direct cause of the sparrow's injury?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	action	action	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	described	describe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	as	as	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	direct	direct	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	sparrow	sparrow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	's	's	PART	POS	_	15	case	_	_
17	injury	injury	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **describe** | present · passive |  | which action of the old woman |  |  |  | as the direct cause of the sparrow's injury | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: subject=Theme as cause=Attribute |
| 2 | **act** |  | the old woman |  |  |  |  |  | nom action «act intransitive»: of=agent |
| 3 | **cause** |  |  | the sparrow's injury |  |  |  |  | nom cause «event transitive»: of=patient |
| 4 | **injure** |  | the sparrow |  |  |  |  |  | nom injury «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 -->
Striking the sparrow with a broom

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1343-pg4018-part3:e1:o1:1
# text = Striking the sparrow with a broom
1	Striking	strike	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	sparrow	sparrow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	broom	broom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **strike** | gerund |  | the sparrow |  |  |  | with a broom | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent sparrow=Patient with broom=Instrument |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cutting off the sparrow's tongue with her sharp scissors after the starch incident

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1343-pg4018-part3:e1:o2:1
# text = Cutting off the sparrow's tongue with her sharp scissors after the starch incident
1	Cutting	cut	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	off	off	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	sparrow	sparrow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	tongue	tongue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
9	sharp	sharp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	scissors	scissors	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
11	after	after	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	starch	starch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
14	incident	incident	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut off** | gerund |  | the sparrow's tongue |  |  | after the starch incident | with her sharp scissors | vn stop-55.4-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Affector tongue=Eventuality |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cutting off the sparrow's tongue with scissors

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1343-pg4018-part3:e1:o3:1
# text = Cutting off the sparrow's tongue with scissors
1	Cutting	cut	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	off	off	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	sparrow	sparrow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	tongue	tongue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	scissors	scissors	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut off** | gerund |  | the sparrow's tongue |  |  |  | with scissors | vn stop-55.4-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Affector tongue=Eventuality |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cutting the sparrow's tongue off with scissors while she was still crying

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1343-pg4018-part3:e1:o4:1
# text = Cutting the sparrow's tongue off with scissors while she was still crying
1	Cutting	cut	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	sparrow	sparrow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	tongue	tongue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
6	off	off	ADP	RP	_	1	compound:prt	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	scissors	scissors	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obl	_	_
9	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
10	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
11	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
12	still	still	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	crying	cry	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut off** | gerund |  | the sparrow's tongue |  |  |  | with scissors | vn stop-55.4-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Affector tongue=Eventuality |
| 2 | **cry** *speech: express* | past · progressive | she |  |  |  | still |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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- ← previous: [Japanese Fairy Tales, The Tongue-Cut S…, test 13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1343-pg4018-part3/t13/)
- next →: [Japanese Fairy Tales, The Tongue-Cut S…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1343-pg4018-part3/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Japanese Fairy Tales, The Tongue-Cut Sparrow, part 3: the old man finds the sparrow, who is really a fairy](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1343-pg4018-part3/)