---
title: With reference to the fable of the Town Mouse and the Country Mouse,… — Aesop's Fables, The Town Mouse and the… · tree and pragmatics
description: With reference to the fable of the Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, identify the circumstance that caused the guests to retreat from the larder. Exam question 2 of lesson 145 «Aesop's Fables, The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse: a town visit ends in fright» of the books course of Mova's primary sc
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/145-pg11339-part15/e2/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/) / [Aesop's Fables, The Town Mouse and the…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/145-pg11339-part15/) / e2

# Exam question 2 · Aesop's Fables, The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse: a to…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
With reference to the fable of the Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, identify the circumstance that caused the guests to retreat from the larder.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, circumstance, guests · **What happens:** identify, cause, retreat · **To what, where:** circumstance, guests, larder

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 145 «Aesop's Fables, The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse: a town visit ends in fright» 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/145-pg11339-part15/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:145-pg11339-part15:e2:1
# text = With reference to the fable of the Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, identify the circumstance that caused the guests to retreat from the larder.
1	With	with	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	reference	reference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	fable	fable	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	Town	Town	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	Mouse	mouse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	Country	Country	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	Mouse	mouse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
15	identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	circumstance	circumstance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
18	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	19	nsubj	_	_
19	caused	cause	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	acl:relcl	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	guests	guest	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	obj	_	_
22	to	to	PART	TO	_	23	mark	_	_
23	retreat	retreat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	19	xcomp	_	_
24	from	from	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	larder	larder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the circumstance |  |  |  | with reference to the fable of the Town Mouse and the Country Mouse | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent circumstance=Theme |
| 2 | **cause** | past | the circumstance | the guests |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **retreat** | to-infinitive | the guests *not said here* |  |  | the larder |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from larder=Initial\_Location |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The entry of some other person into the larder

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:145-pg11339-part15:e2:o1:1
# text = The entry of some other person into the larder
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	entry	entry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	6	det	_	_
5	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
7	into	into	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	larder	larder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **enter** |  |  | some other person |  | the larder |  |  | nom entry «communication transitive»: of=patient into=place |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The sudden noise of a servant's footsteps outside the door

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:145-pg11339-part15:e2:o2:1
# text = The sudden noise of a servant's footsteps outside the door
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	sudden	sudden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	noise	noise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	servant	servant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	footsteps	footstep	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
9	outside	outside	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	door	door	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **noise** |  | a servant's footsteps outside the door |  |  |  |  |  | nom noise «event intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A loud knock at the front door

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:145-pg11339-part15:e2:o3:1
# text = A loud knock at the front door
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	loud	loud	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	knock	knock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	front	front	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	door	door	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The noise of some other creature trying to come into the larder through the open window

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:145-pg11339-part15:e2:o4:1
# text = The noise of some other creature trying to come into the larder through the open window
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	noise	noise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	6	det	_	_
5	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	creature	creature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
7	trying	try	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	appos	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	into	into	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	larder	larder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	through	through	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	open	open	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	window	window	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **come** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  |  |  | the larder |  | through the open window | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location PP.destination»: agent=Theme into larder=Initial\_Location through window=Destination |
| 3 | **noise** |  | some other creature |  |  |  |  |  | nom noise «event intransitive»: of=agent |

<!-- div src -->

**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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Aesop's Fables, The Town Mouse and the…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/145-pg11339-part15/e1/)
- next →: [Aesop's Fables, The Town Mouse and the…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/145-pg11339-part15/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Aesop's Fables, The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse: a town visit ends in fright](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/145-pg11339-part15/)