---
title: Which of the following best characterises the conduct of the Town Co… — Contes, The Pied Piper of Hamel, part… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following best characterises the conduct of the Town Counsellor with regard to the piper's bargain? Exam question 4 of lesson 1552 «Contes, The Pied Piper of Hamel, part 49: Drakestail becomes king, and the piper clears Hamel of rats, then the children vanish» of the books course of Mov
---

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# Exam question 4 · Contes, The Pied Piper of Hamel, part 49: Drakestail becom…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following best characterises the conduct of the Town Counsellor with regard to the piper's bargain?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** best, piper · **What happens:** follow, characteris, conduct, bargain · **To what, where:** conduct, Town Counsellor

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 1552 «Contes, The Pied Piper of Hamel, part 49: Drakestail becomes king, and the piper clears Hamel of rats, then the children vanish» 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/1552-pg540-part49/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1552-pg540-part49:e4:1
# text = Which of the following best characterises the conduct of the Town Counsellor with regard to the piper's bargain?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	obj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	case	_	_
5	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	6	nsubj	_	_
6	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	Town	Town	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	Counsellor	counsellor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
13	with	with	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	regard	regard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
15	to	to	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	piper	piper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	's	's	PART	POS	_	17	case	_	_
19	bargain	bargain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	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 | **characteris** | present | the best | the conduct of the Town Counsellor with regard to the piper's bargain |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **conduct** |  |  | the Town Counsellor with regard to the piper's bargain |  |  |  |  | nom conduct «act transitive»: of=patient |
| 4 | **bargain** |  | the piper |  |  |  |  |  | nom bargain «communication 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He reckoned the heads first and then refused payment entirely to the piper

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1552-pg540-part49:e4:o1:1
# text = He reckoned the heads first and then refused payment entirely to the piper
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	reckoned	reckon	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	heads	head	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	2	advmod	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	8	advmod	_	_
8	refused	refuse	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
9	payment	payment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
10	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	piper	piper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reckon** | past | He | the heads |  |  |  | first *property* | vn consider-29.9-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent head=Attribute |
| 2 | **refuse** | past | He *not said here* | payment |  |  | then | to the piper; entirely *property* | vn reject-77.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent payment=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He withheld payment by means of a clever stratagem and a lie

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1552-pg540-part49:e4:o2:1
# text = He withheld payment by means of a clever stratagem and a lie
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	withheld	withhold	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	payment	payment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	stratagem	stratagem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	lie	lie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **withhold** | past | He | payment |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  | of a clever stratagem and a lie | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He withheld payment by a stratagem

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1552-pg540-part49:e4:o3:1
# text = He withheld payment by a stratagem
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	withheld	withhold	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	payment	payment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	stratagem	stratagem	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **withhold** | past | He | payment |  |  |  | by a stratagem | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He broke his word openly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1552-pg540-part49:e4:o4:1
# text = He broke his word openly
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	broke	break	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	openly	openly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **break** | past | He | his word |  |  |  | openly *property* | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer word=Patient |
| 2 | **word** |  | his *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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