---
title: Which of the following accurately states the reason the coach failed… — Popular Tales from the Norse, The Mast… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following accurately states the reason the coach failed to move before the calf was harnessed? Exam question 3 of lesson 1445 «Popular Tales from the Norse, The Master-maid: the bailiff is tricked into chasing a calf all night, and at last the wedding is held» of the books course of Mov
---

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# Exam question 3 · Popular Tales from the Norse, The Master-maid: the bailiff…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following accurately states the reason the coach failed to move before the calf was harnessed?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** coach · **What happens:** follow, state, fail, not move, harness · **To what, where:** reason, calf

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1445 «Popular Tales from the Norse, The Master-maid: the bailiff is tricked into chasing a calf all night, and at last the wedding is held» 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/1445-pg503-part32/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1445-pg503-part32:e3:1
# text = Which of the following accurately states the reason the coach failed to move before the calf was harnessed?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	4	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	states	state	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	coach	coach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	failed	fail	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	move	move	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	xcomp	_	_
14	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	calf	calf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj:pass	_	_
17	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux:pass	_	_
18	harnessed	harness	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	13	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	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 | **state** *speech: other* | present |  | the reason |  |  |  | accurately *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 3 | **fail** | past | the coach | the reason *not said here* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **not** **move** | to-infinitive | the coach *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **harness** | past · passive |  | the calf |  |  |  |  | vn butter-9.9 «NP V NP.destination»: subject=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The wood was too rotten and the horses were far too tired to pull

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1445-pg503-part32:e3:o1:1
# text = The wood was too rotten and the horses were far too tired to pull
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	too	too	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	rotten	rotten	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	horses	horse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj	_	_
9	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
10	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	12	advmod	_	_
11	too	too	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	tired	tired	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	pull	pull	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the wood |  |  |  |  | rotten *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | past | the horses |  |  |  |  | far, tired *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **pull** | to-infinitive | the horses *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn slide-11.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The wheels were stuck fast

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1445-pg503-part32:e3:o2:1
# text = The wheels were stuck fast
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	wheels	wheel	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	stuck	stuck	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the wheels |  |  |  |  | fast, stuck *property* | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The horses could not draw it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1445-pg503-part32:e3:o3:1
# text = The horses could not draw it
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	horses	horse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	draw	draw	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **draw** | could | the horses | it |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The horses could not draw it until the calf was harnessed in the front

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1445-pg503-part32:e3:o4:1
# text = The horses could not draw it until the calf was harnessed in the front
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	horses	horse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	draw	draw	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	calf	calf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	harnessed	harness	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	advcl	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	front	front	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **draw** | could | the horses | it |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 2 | **harness** | past · passive |  | the calf |  | the front |  |  | vn butter-9.9 «NP V NP.destination»: subject=Destination |

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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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