---
title: Mate, was the ivory tube mint or just rubbish? — Arabian Nights, Prince Ahmed and the F… · tree and pragmatics
description: Mate, was the ivory tube mint or just rubbish? Test 1 · ★ of lesson 1494 «Arabian Nights, Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Peri Banou, part 81: the brothers' gifts save the Princess» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; M
---

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# Test 1 · ★ · Arabian Nights, Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Peri Banou, par…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mate, was the ivory tube mint or just rubbish?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Mate · **What happens:** be · **To what, where:** ivory tube mint

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 1 · ★ of lesson 1494 «Arabian Nights, Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Peri Banou, part 81: the brothers' gifts save the Princess» of the books course of Mova's primary school. 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/1494-pg503-part81/#t1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1494-pg503-part81:t1:1
# text = Mate, was the ivory tube mint or just rubbish?
1	Mate	mate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	ivory	ivory	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	tube	tube	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	mint	mint	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	just	just	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	rubbish	rubbish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | Mate | the ivory tube mint or rubbish |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
It was cheap, he thought

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1494-pg503-part81:t1:o1:1
# text = It was cheap, he thought
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	cheap	cheap	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	thought	think	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | It |  |  |  |  | cheap *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **think** *speech: other* | past | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was mint, he reckoned

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1494-pg503-part81:t1:o2:1
# text = It was mint, he reckoned
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	mint	mint	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	reckoned	reckon	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | It |  |  |  |  | mint *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **reckon** | past | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, it was rubbish and the crier had cheated him badly, he reckoned

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1494-pg503-part81:t1:o3:1
# text = No, it was rubbish and the crier had cheated him badly, he reckoned
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	10	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	rubbish	rubbish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	crier	crier	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
9	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	cheated	cheat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	15	advcl	_	_
11	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	badly	badly	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	10	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	reckoned	reckon	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | it | rubbish and the crier |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **cheat** | past · perfect · passive |  | rubbish and the crier |  |  |  | badly *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **reckon** | past | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was a bit dodgy but he reckoned the price was still fair for a rare thing

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1494-pg503-part81:t1:o4:1
# text = It was a bit dodgy but he reckoned the price was still fair for a rare thing
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl:unmarked	_	_
5	dodgy	dodgy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	reckoned	reckon	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	price	price	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
11	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
12	still	still	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	fair	fair	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	ccomp	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	rare	rare	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | It |  |  |  |  | a bit *obl:unmarked*; dodgy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **reckon** | past | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** | past | the price |  |  |  | still | for a rare thing; fair *property* | tree rules |

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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: [Fairy Tales (pg503), The Story of Prin…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1493-pg503-part80/e4/)
- next →: [Arabian Nights, Prince Ahmed and the F…, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1494-pg503-part81/t2/)
- ↑ back to [Arabian Nights, Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Peri Banou, part 81: the brothers' gifts save the Princess](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1494-pg503-part81/)