---
title: What reason did the father give for finding the stepmother's accusat… — Japanese Fairy Tales, The Mirror, part… · tree and pragmatics
description: What reason did the father give for finding the stepmother's accusation impossible to accept? Exam question 3 of lesson 1361 «Japanese Fairy Tales, The Mirror, part 21: a dying mother gives her daughter a mirror, and a stepmother accuses the girl» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with t
---

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# Exam question 3 · Japanese Fairy Tales, The Mirror, part 21: a dying mother…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What reason did the father give for finding the stepmother's accusation impossible to accept?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** father, accusation, stepmother · **What happens:** give, find, accept, accuse · **To what, where:** accusation

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1361 «Japanese Fairy Tales, The Mirror, part 21: a dying mother gives her daughter a mirror, and a stepmother accuses the girl» 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/1361-pg4018-part21/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1361-pg4018-part21:e3:1
# text = What reason did the father give for finding the stepmother's accusation impossible to accept?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	6	obl	_	_
2	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
3	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
8	finding	find	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	advcl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	stepmother	stepmother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	accusation	accusation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
13	impossible	impossible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	xcomp	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	accept	accept	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | past · do-support | the father |  |  |  |  |  | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **find** | gerund | the father *not said here* | the stepmother's accusation |  |  |  | impossible *property* | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent accusation=Topic |
| 3 | **accept** | to-infinitive | the stepmother's accusation *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **accuse** |  | the stepmother |  |  |  |  |  | nom accusation «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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
he could not credit that his daughter had acquired such knowledge

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1361-pg4018-part21:e3:o1:1
# text = he could not credit that his daughter had acquired such knowledge
1	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	credit	credit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	daughter	daughter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	acquired	acquire	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	acl:relcl	_	_
10	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	knowledge	knowledge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **acquire** | past · perfect | his daughter | such knowledge |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent knowledge=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
he could not credit that his daughter had acquired such knowledge from any living teacher in the land

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1361-pg4018-part21:e3:o2:1
# text = he could not credit that his daughter had acquired such knowledge from any living teacher in the land
1	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	credit	credit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	daughter	daughter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	acquired	acquire	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
10	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	knowledge	knowledge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	from	from	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	15	det	_	_
14	living	living	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	compound	_	_
15	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **acquire** | could · perfect · passive |  | he |  | the land |  | from any living teacher | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
he thought his wife was simply jealous and tired

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1361-pg4018-part21:e3:o3:1
# text = he thought his wife was simply jealous and tired
1	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	thought	think	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	simply	simply	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	jealous	jealous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	tired	tired	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | past | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past | his wife |  |  |  |  | jealous, simply *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** |  | his wife *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
he could not credit that his daughter had acquired such knowledge, since she had never left the house

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1361-pg4018-part21:e3:o4:1
# text = he could not credit that his daughter had acquired such knowledge, since she had never left the house
1	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	credit	credit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	daughter	daughter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	acquired	acquire	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
10	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	knowledge	knowledge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
13	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
14	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
15	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
16	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	17	advmod	_	_
17	left	leave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	9	parataxis	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **acquire** | could · perfect · passive |  | he |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **leave** | past · perfect | daughter | the house |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent house=Theme |

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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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