---
title: By what means did the comrade with the straw prevent the Simpleton f… — Fairy Tales from many lands, The Simpl… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did the comrade with the straw prevent the Simpleton from being suffocated? Exam question 3 of lesson 1723 «Fairy Tales from many lands, The Simpleton, the Simpleton beats the King's impossible tasks and wins the Princess» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependen
---

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# Exam question 3 · Fairy Tales from many lands, The Simpleton, the Simpleton…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did the comrade with the straw prevent the Simpleton from being suffocated?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** comrade · **What happens:** mean, prevent, suffocate · **To what, where:** Simpleton · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1723 «Fairy Tales from many lands, The Simpleton, the Simpleton beats the King's impossible tasks and wins the Princess» 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/1723-pg640-part47/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1723-pg640-part47:e3:1
# text = By what means did the comrade with the straw prevent the Simpleton from being suffocated?
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	comrade	comrade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	straw	straw	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	prevent	prevent	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	Simpleton	Simpleton	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	from	from	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
14	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	15	aux:pass	_	_
15	suffocated	suffocate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **prevent** | past · do-support | the comrade with the straw | the Simpleton |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer simpleton=Theme |
| 3 | **suffocate** | gerund · passive | the comrade with the straw *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn suffocate-40.7 «NP.theme V» |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By scattering the straw, cooling the walls

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1723-pg640-part47:e3:o1:1
# text = By scattering the straw, cooling the walls
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	scattering	scatter	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	straw	straw	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	cooling	cool	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	walls	wall	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **scatter** | gerund |  | the straw |  |  |  |  | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent straw=Theme |
| 2 | **cool** | gerund |  | the walls |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent wall=Patient |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By prayer

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1723-pg640-part47:e3:o2:1
# text = By prayer
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	prayer	prayer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By opening the iron door wide

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1723-pg640-part47:e3:o3:1
# text = By opening the iron door wide
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	opening	open	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	iron	iron	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	door	door	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	wide	wide	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **open** | gerund |  | the iron door |  |  |  | wide *property* | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location door=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By pouring cold water on the floor

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1723-pg640-part47:e3:o4:1
# text = By pouring cold water on the floor
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	pouring	pour	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	floor	floor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pour** | gerund |  | cold water |  | the floor |  |  | vn preparing-26.3-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent water=Patient |

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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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