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title: Which creature obstructed the highway, and by what means did it term… — Pinocchio, The Adventures of Pinocchio… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which creature obstructed the highway, and by what means did it terminate its existence? Exam question 2 of lesson 1398 «Pinocchio, The Adventures of Pinocchio, part 11: freed from prison, a Serpent blocks the road, caught by a Farmer» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependenc
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# Exam question 2 · Pinocchio, The Adventures of Pinocchio, part 11: freed fro…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which creature obstructed the highway, and by what means did it terminate its existence?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** creature · **What happens:** obstruct, mean, terminate, exist · **To what, where:** highway, existence

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1398 «Pinocchio, The Adventures of Pinocchio, part 11: freed from prison, a Serpent blocks the road, caught by a Farmer» 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/1398-pg500-part11/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1398-pg500-part11:e2:1
# text = Which creature obstructed the highway, and by what means did it terminate its existence?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	creature	creature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	obstructed	obstruct	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	highway	highway	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
8	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
9	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	10	nsubj	_	_
10	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	advcl	_	_
11	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	terminate	terminate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
14	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	existence	existence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **obstruct** | past | which creature | the highway |  |  |  |  | vn discourage-64.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer highway=Eventuality |
| 2 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **terminate** | past · do-support | creature | creature's existence |  |  |  |  | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent existence=Theme |
| 4 | **exist** |  | creature |  |  |  |  |  | nom existence «state intransitive»: 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 -->
A dark Serpent that fainted from the heat of the sun

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1398-pg500-part11:e2:o1:1
# text = A dark Serpent that fainted from the heat of the sun
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	dark	dark	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	Serpent	serpent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	fainted	faint	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	heat	heat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	sun	sun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **faint** | past | a dark Serpent |  |  |  |  | from the heat of the sun | vn change\_bodily\_state-40.8.4 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer from heat=Stimulus |
| 2 | **heat** |  | the sun |  |  |  |  |  | nom heat «phenomenon intransitive»: of=agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An immense Serpent that burst an artery through laughter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1398-pg500-part11:e2:o2:1
# text = An immense Serpent that burst an artery through laughter
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	immense	immense	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	Serpent	serpent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	burst	burst	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
6	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	artery	artery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	through	through	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	laughter	laughter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **burst** | past | a immense Serpent | a artery |  | laughter |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location artery=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A giant wolf that was hit by a falling stone from the hill

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1398-pg500-part11:e2:o3:1
# text = A giant wolf that was hit by a falling stone from the hill
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	giant	giant	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	wolf	wolf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	hit	hit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	falling	fall	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	10	amod	_	_
10	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
11	from	from	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	hill	hill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hit** | past · passive | a falling stone | a giant wolf |  | the hill |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent subject=Theme from hill=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **fall** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A huge Serpent that froze in the cold

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1398-pg500-part11:e2:o4:1
# text = A huge Serpent that froze in the cold
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	huge	huge	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	Serpent	serpent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	froze	freeze	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	cold	cold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **freeze** | past | a huge Serpent |  |  | the cold |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

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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: [Pinocchio, The Adventures of Pinocchio…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1398-pg500-part11/e1/)
- next →: [Pinocchio, The Adventures of Pinocchio…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1398-pg500-part11/e3/)
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