---
title: What was the nature of the Dragon's protection against weapons? — Fairy Book, The Six Swans: the silent… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the nature of the Dragon's protection against weapons? Exam question 4 of lesson 1679 «Fairy Book, The Six Swans: the silent sister saves her brothers but is condemned to burn» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each 
---

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# Exam question 4 · Fairy Book, The Six Swans: the silent sister saves her bro…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the nature of the Dragon's protection against weapons?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** nature, Dragon · **What happens:** be, protect

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 1679 «Fairy Book, The Six Swans: the silent sister saves her brothers but is condemned to burn» 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/1679-pg640-part3/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1679-pg640-part3:e4:1
# text = What was the nature of the Dragon's protection against weapons?
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	nature	nature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	Dragon	Dragon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	protection	protection	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
10	against	against	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	weapons	weapon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | the nature of the Dragon's protection against weapons |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **protect** |  | the Dragon |  |  |  |  | against weapons | nom protection «act transitive»: poss=agent against=obl |

<!-- .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 -->
Nothing could harm it because its scales were harder than any stone, iron, or steel known to men.

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1679-pg640-part3:e4:o1:1
# text = Nothing could harm it because its scales were harder than any stone, iron, or steel known to men.
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	3	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	harm	harm	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	scales	scale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
8	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	harder	hard	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	3	advcl	_	_
10	than	than	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	12	det	_	_
12	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	iron	iron	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
16	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
17	steel	steel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	conj	_	_
18	known	know	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	17	acl	_	_
19	to	to	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **harm** | could | Nothing | it |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus it=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** | past | its scales |  |  |  |  | than any stone and iron or steel; hard *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **know** | participle |  | steel *not said here* |  |  |  | to men | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its scales were so hard that no sword, spear, or arrow could ever pierce them at all.

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1679-pg640-part3:e4:o2:1
# text = Its scales were so hard that no sword, spear, or arrow could ever pierce them at all.
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	scales	scale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	so	so	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	8	det	_	_
8	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	spear	spear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
12	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
13	arrow	arrow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
14	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
15	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	16	advmod	_	_
16	pierce	pierce	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
17	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obj	_	_
18	at	at	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Its scales |  |  |  |  | hard *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **pierce** | could | arrow | scales *= scale* |  | all | ever |  | vn poke-19-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Patient |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its skin could not be pierced by blades.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1679-pg640-part3:e4:o3:1
# text = Its skin could not be pierced by blades.
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	pierced	pierce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	blades	blade	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **pierce** | could · passive | blades | Its skin |  |  |  |  | vn poke-19-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Its scales were harder than stone or metal.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1679-pg640-part3:e4:o4:1
# text = Its scales were harder than stone or metal.
1	Its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	scales	scale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	harder	hard	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	_
5	than	than	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
7	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	metal	metal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Its scales |  |  |  |  | than stone or metal; hard *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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