---
title: What was the cause of the servants' disappearance as reported in the… — Grimm's Household Tales, Clever Hans,… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the cause of the servants' disappearance as reported in the text? Exam question 2 of lesson 1799 «Grimm's Household Tales, Clever Hans, part 50: Hans rings the bells, outwits the headless dwarves, then rides off through snow» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1799-pg641-part50/e2/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/) / [Grimm's Household Tales, Clever Hans,…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1799-pg641-part50/) / e2

# Exam question 2 · Grimm's Household Tales, Clever Hans, part 50: Hans rings…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the cause of the servants' disappearance as reported in the text?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** servants · **What happens:** be, report, disappear · **To what, where:** cause, disappearance, text

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1799 «Grimm's Household Tales, Clever Hans, part 50: Hans rings the bells, outwits the headless dwarves, then rides off through snow» 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/1799-pg641-part50/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1799-pg641-part50:e2:1
# text = What was the cause of the servants' disappearance as reported in the text?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	servants	servant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	'	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	disappearance	disappearance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
10	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
11	reported	report	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	acl	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	text	text	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the cause |  |  |  | of the servants's disappearance | tree rules |
| 2 | **report** | participle |  | the servants's disappearance *not said here* |  | the text |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **disappear** |  | the servants |  |  |  |  |  | nom disappearance «act intransitive»: poss=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dwarves took them away at night

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1799-pg641-part50:e2:o1:1
# text = Dwarves took them away at night
1	Dwarves	dwarve	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	away	away	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take away** | past | Dwarves | them *= they* |  |  | night | away *property* | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The text leaves the cause unexplained, but suspicion fell on the minister, who was seen locking the tower

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1799-pg641-part50:e2:o2:1
# text = The text leaves the cause unexplained, but suspicion fell on the minister, who was seen locking the tower
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	text	text	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	leaves	leave	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	unexplained	unexplained	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	suspicion	suspicion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	fell	fall	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
11	on	on	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	minister	minister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
15	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	17	nsubj	_	_
16	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux:pass	_	_
17	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	13	acl:relcl	_	_
18	locking	lock	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	17	xcomp	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	tower	tower	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **leave** | present | the text | the cause |  |  |  | unexplained *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cause=Theme |
| 2 | **fall** | past | suspicion |  |  | the minister |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme on minister=Location |
| 3 | **see** | past · passive |  | the minister |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **lock** | gerund | the minister *not said here* | the tower |  |  |  |  | vn tape-22.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tower=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The text says they fled the village

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1799-pg641-part50:e2:o3:1
# text = The text says they fled the village
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	text	text	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	fled	flee	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	village	village	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | the text |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **flee** | past | they | the village |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme village=Initial\_Location |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The text leaves the cause unexplained, but suspicion fell on the minister

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1799-pg641-part50:e2:o4:1
# text = The text leaves the cause unexplained, but suspicion fell on the minister
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	text	text	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	leaves	leave	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	unexplained	unexplained	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	suspicion	suspicion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	fell	fall	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
11	on	on	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	minister	minister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **leave** | present | the text | the cause |  |  |  | unexplained *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cause=Theme |
| 2 | **fall** | past | suspicion |  |  | the minister |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme on minister=Location |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Grimm's Household Tales, Clever Hans,…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1799-pg641-part50/e1/)
- next →: [Grimm's Household Tales, Clever Hans,…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1799-pg641-part50/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Grimm's Household Tales, Clever Hans, part 50: Hans rings the bells, outwits the headless dwarves, then rides off through snow](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1799-pg641-part50/)