---
title: What was the purpose of the mosquitoes released by the old women in… — Italian Popular Tales, Ciccu, part 63:… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the purpose of the mosquitoes released by the old women in the wood? Exam question 3 of lesson 1674 «Italian Popular Tales, Ciccu, part 63: the princess drops her veil and ring, and Ciccu must fetch the veil» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmat
---

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# Exam question 3 · Italian Popular Tales, Ciccu, part 63: the princess drops…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the purpose of the mosquitoes released by the old women in the wood?

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

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1674 «Italian Popular Tales, Ciccu, part 63: the princess drops her veil and ring, and Ciccu must fetch the veil» 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/1674-pg5615-part63/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1674-pg5615-part63:e3:1
# text = What was the purpose of the mosquitoes released by the old women in the wood?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	mosquitoes	mosquito	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
8	released	release	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	women	woman	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl:agent	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | the purpose of the mosquitoes |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **release** | participle |  | the mosquitoes *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn free-10.6.3-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Causer |
| 3 | **purpose** |  | the mosquitoes |  |  |  |  |  | nom purpose «cognition intransitive»: of=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 -->
To keep the Man-eater busy so Ciccu could sleep

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1674-pg5615-part63:e3:o1:1
# text = To keep the Man-eater busy so Ciccu could sleep
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	keep	keep	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	Man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	eater	eater	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	busy	busy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
8	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
9	Ciccu	Ciccu	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
10	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	sleep	sleep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | to-infinitive |  | the Man eater |  |  |  | busy *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent eater=Theme |
| 2 | **sleep** | could | Ciccu |  |  |  |  |  | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To keep the Man-eater awake so Ciccu could take the sword

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1674-pg5615-part63:e3:o2:1
# text = To keep the Man-eater awake so Ciccu could take the sword
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	keep	keep	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	Man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	eater	eater	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	awake	awake	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
8	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
9	Ciccu	Ciccu	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
10	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | to-infinitive |  | the Man eater |  |  |  | awake *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent eater=Theme |
| 2 | **take** | could | Ciccu | the sword |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sword=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To keep the Man-eater awake all night so Ciccu could take the sword unnoticed

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1674-pg5615-part63:e3:o3:1
# text = To keep the Man-eater awake all night so Ciccu could take the sword unnoticed
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	keep	keep	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	Man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	eater	eater	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	awake	awake	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
8	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
9	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl:unmarked	_	_
10	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
11	Ciccu	Ciccu	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
12	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
16	unnoticed	unnoticed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | to-infinitive |  | the Man eater |  |  | night | awake *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent eater=Theme |
| 2 | **take** | could | Ciccu | the sword |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sword=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To keep the Man-eater awake so that Ciccu could take the sword and escape the castle safely

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1674-pg5615-part63:e3:o4:1
# text = To keep the Man-eater awake so that Ciccu could take the sword and escape the castle safely
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	keep	keep	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	Man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	eater	eater	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	awake	awake	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
8	so	so	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	12	mark	_	_
9	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	fixed	_	_
10	Ciccu	Ciccu	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
11	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	escape	escape	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	conj	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	castle	castle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	_
19	safely	safely	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | to-infinitive |  | the Man eater |  |  |  | awake *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent eater=Theme |
| 2 | **take** | could | Ciccu | the sword |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sword=Theme |
| 3 | **escape** | infinitive | Ciccu *not said here* | the castle |  |  |  | safely *property* | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme castle=Initial\_Location |

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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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