---
title: Which of the following describes the action by which the youngest br… — pg640 Tales, The Youngest Brother and… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following describes the action by which the youngest brother secured the release of the rescued children from the serpent? Exam question 1 of lesson 1708 «pg640 Tales, The Youngest Brother and the Witch: he kills the witch, saves the children and wins his bride» of the books course of M
---

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# Exam question 1 · pg640 Tales, The Youngest Brother and the Witch: he kills…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following describes the action by which the youngest brother secured the release of the rescued children from the serpent?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** youngest brother · **What happens:** follow, describe, secure, rescue · **To what, where:** action, release

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 1708 «pg640 Tales, The Youngest Brother and the Witch: he kills the witch, saves the children and wins his bride» 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/1708-pg640-part32/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1708-pg640-part32:e1:1
# text = Which of the following describes the action by which the youngest brother secured the release of the rescued children from the serpent?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	nsubj	_	_
5	describes	describe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	action	action	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	obl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	youngest	young	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	12	amod	_	_
12	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	secured	secure	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	release	release	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	rescued	rescue	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	19	amod	_	_
19	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nmod	_	_
20	from	from	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	serpent	serpent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	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 | **describe** | present |  | the action |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent action=Theme |
| 3 | **secure** | past | the youngest brother | the release of the rescued children from the serpent |  |  |  | by the action | vn ensure-99 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition release=Theme |
| 4 | **rescue** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn steal-10.5 «NP V NP»: agent=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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He severed the serpent's head with a single blow of his sword

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1708-pg640-part32:e1:o1:1
# text = He severed the serpent's head with a single blow of his sword
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	severed	sever	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	serpent	serpent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	blow	blow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sever** | past | He | the serpent's head |  |  |  | with a single blow of his sword | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent head=Theme |
| 2 | **blow** |  | his sword |  |  |  |  |  | nom blow «act intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He struck the snake with his bare hands

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1708-pg640-part32:e1:o2:1
# text = He struck the snake with his bare hands
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	struck	strike	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	snake	snake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	bare	bare	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **strike** | past | He | the snake |  |  |  | with snake's bare hands | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent snake=Patient with hand=Instrument |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He cut its tail

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1708-pg640-part32:e1:o3:1
# text = He cut its tail
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	cut	cut	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut** | past | He | its tail |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tail=Product |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He cut the serpent in two with a blow

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1708-pg640-part32:e1:o4:1
# text = He cut the serpent in two with a blow
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	cut	cut	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	serpent	serpent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	obl	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	blow	blow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut** | past | He | the serpent |  | two |  | with a blow | vn cut-21.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent serpent=Patient with blow=Instrument |

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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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