---
title: Upon what grounds did the Fox decline to enter the cave of the aged… — Aesop's Fables, The Dog and the Cook,… · tree and pragmatics
description: Upon what grounds did the Fox decline to enter the cave of the aged Lion? Exam question 2 of lesson 138 «Aesop's Fables, The Dog and the Cook, part 8: a dog is thrown out of a feast, a vain Monkey is trapped, and more short fables» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tr
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# Exam question 2 · Aesop's Fables, The Dog and the Cook, part 8: a dog is thr…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Upon what grounds did the Fox decline to enter the cave of the aged Lion?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** ground, do, enter · **To what, where:** Fox decline, cave

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 138 «Aesop's Fables, The Dog and the Cook, part 8: a dog is thrown out of a feast, a vain Monkey is trapped, and more short fables» 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/138-pg11339-part8/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:138-pg11339-part8:e2:1
# text = Upon what grounds did the Fox decline to enter the cave of the aged Lion?
1	Upon	upon	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
3	grounds	ground	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	Fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	decline	decline	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	enter	enter	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	acl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	cave	cave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	aged	aged	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	Lion	Lion	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ground** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **do** | past |  | the Fox decline |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent decline=Eventuality |
| 3 | **enter** | to-infinitive |  | the cave of the aged Lion |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme cave=Destination |

<!-- .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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He saw that the Lion was sick and old, so he decided it was too dangerous to go into the cave anyway

<!-- fold The tree, 22 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:138-pg11339-part8:e2:o1:1
# text = He saw that the Lion was sick and old, so he decided it was too dangerous to go into the cave anyway
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Lion	Lion	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	sick	sick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
12	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	decided	decide	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
14	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
15	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
16	too	too	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	dangerous	dangerous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	ccomp	_	_
18	to	to	PART	TO	_	19	mark	_	_
19	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	csubj	_	_
20	into	into	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	cave	cave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	_
23	anyway	anyway	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** | past | the Lion |  |  |  |  | sick *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** |  | the Lion *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **decide** | past | Lion |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **is** | past | it |  |  |  |  | dangerous *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **go** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | the cave |  | anyway *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme into cave=Initial\_Location |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He observed that all the footprints pointed towards the cave

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:138-pg11339-part8:e2:o2:1
# text = He observed that all the footprints pointed towards the cave
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	observed	observe	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	6	det:predet	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	footprints	footprint	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	pointed	point	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
8	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	cave	cave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **observe** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **point** | past | all footprints |  |  |  |  | towards the cave | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent towards cave=Recipient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He noticed that all the footprints pointed towards the cave and none came back out again

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:138-pg11339-part8:e2:o3:1
# text = He noticed that all the footprints pointed towards the cave and none came back out again
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	noticed	notice	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
4	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	6	det:predet	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	footprints	footprint	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	pointed	point	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
8	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	cave	cave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	none	none	PRON	NN	PronType=Neg	13	nsubj	_	_
13	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
14	back	back	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
15	out	out	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
16	again	again	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **notice** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **point** | past | all footprints |  |  |  |  | towards the cave | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent towards cave=Recipient |
| 3 | **come back** | past | none |  |  |  | again | out *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He heard the Lion growling inside

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:138-pg11339-part8:e2:o4:1
# text = He heard the Lion growling inside
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Lion	Lion	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	growling	growl	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
6	inside	inside	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | past | He | the Lion |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer lion=Stimulus |
| 2 | **growl** | gerund | He *not said here* |  |  |  |  | inside *property* | 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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Aesop's Fables, The Dog and the Cook,…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/138-pg11339-part8/e1/)
- next →: [Aesop's Fables, The Dog and the Cook,…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/138-pg11339-part8/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Aesop's Fables, The Dog and the Cook, part 8: a dog is thrown out of a feast, a vain Monkey is trapped, and more short fables](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/138-pg11339-part8/)