---
title: Which of the following best describes the outcome of the servants' a… — Aesop, The Mistress and Her Servants:… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following best describes the outcome of the servants' action towards the cock? Exam question 1 of lesson 135 «Aesop, The Mistress and Her Servants: they kill the cock and wake up even earlier» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the q
---

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# Exam question 1 · Aesop, The Mistress and Her Servants: they kill the cock a…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following best describes the outcome of the servants' action towards the cock?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** servants · **What happens:** follow, describe, act · **To what, where:** outcome

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 135 «Aesop, The Mistress and Her Servants: they kill the cock and wake up even earlier» 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/135-pg11339-part5/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:135-pg11339-part5:e1:1
# text = Which of the following best describes the outcome of the servants' action towards the cock?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	obj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	case	_	_
5	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	6	nmod	_	_
6	describes	describe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	outcome	outcome	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	servants	servant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	'	's	PART	POS	_	11	case	_	_
13	action	action	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
14	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	cock	cock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **describe** | present |  | the outcome of the servants's action towards the cock |  |  |  | of the best | tree rules |
| 3 | **act** |  | the servants |  |  |  |  | towards the cock | nom action «act intransitive»: poss=agent towards=obl |

<!-- .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 servants made the Widow angry and she sold them off to another household for the cold winter months

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:135-pg11339-part5:e1:o1:1
# text = The servants made the Widow angry and she sold them off to another household for the cold winter months
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	servants	servant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Widow	widow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	angry	angry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	sold	sell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
10	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
11	off	off	ADP	RP	_	9	compound:prt	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	14	det	_	_
14	household	household	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
15	for	for	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
17	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
18	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	compound	_	_
19	months	month	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | past | the servants | the Widow |  |  |  | angry *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset widow=Product |
| 2 | **sell off** | past | Widow | servants *= servant* | another household |  | month |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent they=Theme to household=Recipient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The servants got away with it and kept the cock's noise away

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:135-pg11339-part5:e1:o2:1
# text = The servants got away with it and kept the cock's noise away
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	servants	servant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	away	away	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	kept	keep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	cock	cock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	noise	noise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
13	away	away	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get away** | past | the servants |  |  |  |  | with it; away *property* | vn withdraw-82-2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **keep** | past | the servants *not said here* | the cock's noise |  |  |  | away *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent noise=Theme |
| 3 | **noise** |  | the cock |  |  |  |  |  | nom noise «event intransitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cock was not harmed by them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:135-pg11339-part5:e1:o3:1
# text = The cock was not harmed by them
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cock	cock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	harmed	harm	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **harm** | past · passive | them *= they* | the cock |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus subject=Experiencer |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The servants caused themselves greater hardship than before

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:135-pg11339-part5:e1:o4:1
# text = The servants caused themselves greater hardship than before
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	servants	servant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	caused	cause	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	3	obj	_	_
5	greater	great	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	amod	_	_
6	hardship	hardship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	than	than	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	before	before	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | past | the servants | servants *= servant* |  |  |  | before *property* | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Causer themselves=Theme hardship=Eventuality |

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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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