---
title: What is the principal reason the sultan gives for refusing to destro… — Swahili Tales, The Nunda: the sultan's… · tree and pragmatics
description: What is the principal reason the sultan gives for refusing to destroy the cat, as recorded in the passage? Exam question 1 of lesson 1795 «Swahili Tales, The Nunda: the sultan's cat devours his people, and his youngest son sets out to slay it» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the d
---

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# Exam question 1 · Swahili Tales, The Nunda: the sultan's cat devours his peo…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What is the principal reason the sultan gives for refusing to destroy the cat, as recorded in the passage?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** sultan · **What happens:** be, give, refuse, not destroy, record · **To what, where:** principal reason, cat, passage

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 1795 «Swahili Tales, The Nunda: the sultan's cat devours his people, and his youngest son sets out to slay it» 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/1795-pg641-part46/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1795-pg641-part46:e1:1
# text = What is the principal reason the sultan gives for refusing to destroy the cat, as recorded in the passage?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	sultan	sultan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	gives	give	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
9	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
10	refusing	refuse	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	advcl	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	destroy	destroy	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
16	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
17	recorded	record	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	conj	_	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	passage	passage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **give** | present | the sultan | the principal reason *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 3 | **refuse** | gerund | the sultan *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 4 | **not** **destroy** | to-infinitive | the sultan *not said here* | the cat |  |  |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cat=Patient |
| 5 | **record** | participle | the sultan *not said here* |  |  | the passage |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent in passage=Destination |

<!-- .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 -->
He says the cat is his

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1795-pg641-part46:e1:o1:1
# text = He says the cat is his
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | present | the cat *not said here* | cat |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He asserts that the cat, and all it has taken, belong to him

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1795-pg641-part46:e1:o2:1
# text = He asserts that the cat, and all it has taken, belong to him
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	asserts	assert	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
8	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	13	advmod	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	taken	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
13	belong	belong	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|Typo=Yes|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
14	to	to	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **assert** | present | He |  |  |  |  | that the cat | vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **take** | present · perfect · passive |  | it |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 3 | **belong** | present | He *not said here* |  | cat |  |  |  | vn attend-107.4-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He argues the cat must be spared since it is his own beast

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1795-pg641-part46:e1:o3:1
# text = He argues the cat must be spared since it is his own beast
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	argues	argue	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	spared	spare	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	ccomp	_	_
8	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
12	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	beast	beast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **argue** *speech: disagree* | present | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **spare** | must · passive |  | the cat |  |  |  |  | vn bill-54.5 «NP V NP NP.asset»: subject=Asset |
| 3 | **is a** | present | cat | his own beast |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because it is his cat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1795-pg641-part46:e1:o4:1
# text = Because it is his cat
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | it | his cat |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**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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