---
title: Under what circumstances did Kay acquire the splinter that altered h… — Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Snow Queen… · tree and pragmatics
description: Under what circumstances did Kay acquire the splinter that altered his disposition? Exam question 4 of lesson 1624 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Snow Queen, part 1: a mirror breaks and Kay gets a splinter» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the qu
---

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# Exam question 4 · Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Snow Queen, part 1: a mirror b…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Under what circumstances did Kay acquire the splinter that altered his disposition?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** circumstances, splinter · **What happens:** acquire, alter · **To what, where:** splinter, disposition

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 1624 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Snow Queen, part 1: a mirror breaks and Kay gets a splinter» 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/1624-pg5615-part13/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1624-pg5615-part13:e4:1
# text = Under what circumstances did Kay acquire the splinter that altered his disposition?
1	Under	under	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	6	obl	_	_
3	circumstances	circumstance	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
4	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	Kay	Kay	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	acquire	acquire	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	splinter	splinter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
10	altered	alter	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	disposition	disposition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **acquire** | past · do-support | circumstances | the splinter |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset splinter=Theme |
| 2 | **alter** | past | the splinter | Kay's disposition |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent disposition=Patient |

<!-- .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 -->
While staring at a painting in the cold, after the bell rang at noon

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1624-pg5615-part13:e4:o1:1
# text = While staring at a painting in the cold, after the bell rang at noon
1	While	while	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	staring	stare	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	13	advcl	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	painting	painting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	cold	cold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
10	after	after	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	bell	bell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
13	rang	ring	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
14	at	at	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	noon	noon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stare** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | in the cold; at a painting | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at painting=Theme |
| 2 | **ring** | past |  |  |  |  | after the bell; noon |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
When he was looking at a book

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1624-pg5615-part13:e4:o2:1
# text = When he was looking at a book
1	When	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	4	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | past · progressive | he |  |  |  |  | at a book | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at book=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
While looking at a picture book in summer, after the clock had struck five

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1624-pg5615-part13:e4:o3:1
# text = While looking at a picture book in summer, after the clock had struck five
1	While	while	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	14	advcl	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	picture	picture	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	summer	summer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
10	after	after	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	clock	clock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
13	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	struck	strike	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
15	five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	14	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | at a picture book in summer | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at book=Theme |
| 2 | **strike** | past · perfect |  | five |  |  | after the clock |  | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent five=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
On a winter night, at home

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1624-pg5615-part13:e4:o4:1
# text = On a winter night, at home
1	On	on	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
```

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

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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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- ← previous: [Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Snow Queen…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1624-pg5615-part13/e3/)
- next →: [Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Snow Queen…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1625-pg5615-part14/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Snow Queen, part 1: a mirror breaks and Kay gets a splinter](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1624-pg5615-part13/)