---
title: With reference to the passage, what was the hen-wife's stated reason… — West Highland Tales, The Steed of Bell… · tree and pragmatics
description: With reference to the passage, what was the hen-wife's stated reason for the Queen's danger? Exam question 3 of lesson 1516 «West Highland Tales, The Steed of Bells, part 13: the three princes set out with the Thief of Sloan to reach the Knight's castle» of the books course of Mova's primary school,
---

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# Exam question 3 · West Highland Tales, The Steed of Bells, part 13: the thre…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
With reference to the passage, what was the hen-wife's stated reason for the Queen's danger?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** passage · **What happens:** state, be · **To what, where:** stated reason

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This is exam question 3 of lesson 1516 «West Highland Tales, The Steed of Bells, part 13: the three princes set out with the Thief of Sloan to reach the Knight's castle» 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/1516-pg540-part13/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1516-pg540-part13:e3:1
# text = With reference to the passage, what was the hen-wife's stated reason for the Queen's danger?
1	With	with	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	reference	reference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	passage	passage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
7	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	15	nsubj	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
10	hen	hen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	's	's	PART	POS	_	12	case	_	_
14	stated	state	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	15	amod	_	_
15	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
16	for	for	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	Queen	Queen	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	20	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	's	's	PART	POS	_	18	case	_	_
20	danger	danger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **state** *speech: other* | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | past | the passage and the hen wife's stated reason | the hen wife's stated reason |  |  |  | for the Queen's danger | 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The sons were locked away from the court

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1516-pg540-part13:e3:o1:1
# text = The sons were locked away from the court
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sons	son	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	locked	lock	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	away	away	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	court	court	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lock away** | past · passive |  | the sons |  | the court |  | away *property* | vn tape-22.4 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The King's sons were kept

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1516-pg540-part13:e3:o2:1
# text = The King's sons were kept
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	King	King	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	sons	son	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	kept	keep	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | past · passive |  | the King's sons |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The King's sons were kept confined and might inherit

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1516-pg540-part13:e3:o3:1
# text = The King's sons were kept confined and might inherit
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	King	King	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	sons	son	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	kept	keep	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	confined	confine	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	xcomp	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	inherit	inherit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | past · passive |  | the King's sons |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **confine** | participle | the King's sons *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **inherit** | might |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She had a rival in the youngest prince, who was ambitious

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1516-pg540-part13:e3:o4:1
# text = She had a rival in the youngest prince, who was ambitious
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	rival	rival	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	youngest	young	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	8	amod	_	_
8	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	12	nsubj	_	_
11	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
12	ambitious	ambitious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | She | a rival |  |  |  | in the youngest prince | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rival=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | past | the youngest prince |  |  |  |  | ambitious *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: [West Highland Tales, The Steed of Bell…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1516-pg540-part13/e2/)
- next →: [West Highland Tales, The Steed of Bell…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1516-pg540-part13/e4/)
- ↑ back to [West Highland Tales, The Steed of Bells, part 13: the three princes set out with the Thief of Sloan to reach the Knight's castle](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1516-pg540-part13/)