---
title: exam: What was the principal cause of Harisarman's distress at the c… — Indian Fairy Tales, The Charmed Ring,… · tree and pragmatics
description: exam: What was the principal cause of Harisarman's distress at the commencement of the passage? Exam question 1 of lesson 1833 «Indian Fairy Tales, The Charmed Ring, part 17: Harisarman fools the king with a lucky guess, and a kind young man buys a dog, a cat and a snake» of the books course of Mova
---

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# Exam question 1 · Indian Fairy Tales, The Charmed Ring, part 17: Harisarman…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
exam: What was the principal cause of Harisarman's distress at the commencement of the passage?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** exam, Harisarman · **What happens:** be, distress · **To what, where:** principal cause, commencement

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 1833 «Indian Fairy Tales, The Charmed Ring, part 17: Harisarman fools the king with a lucky guess, and a kind young man buys a dog, a cat and a snake» 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/1833-pg7128-part17/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1833-pg7128-part17:e1:1
# text = exam: What was the principal cause of Harisarman's distress at the commencement of the passage?
1	exam	exam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
3	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	7	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	Harisarman	Harisarman	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	distress	distress	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
12	at	at	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	commencement	commencement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	passage	passage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | exam | the principal cause |  | the commencement of the passage |  | of Harisarman's distress | tree rules |
| 2 | **distress** |  | Harisarman |  |  |  |  |  | nom distress «feeling transitive»: 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His habit of pretending to know things he had never studied

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1833-pg7128-part17:e1:o1:1
# text = His habit of pretending to know things he had never studied
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	habit	habit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
4	pretending	pretend	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
9	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
10	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	studied	study	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	6	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pretend** | gerund | His habit *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **know** | to-infinitive | His habit *not said here* | things |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **study** | past · perfect | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His fear of the king's guards

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1833-pg7128-part17:e1:o2:1
# text = His fear of the king's guards
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	fear	fear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	guards	guard	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fear** |  | His *= he* | the king's guards |  |  |  |  | nom fear «feeling transitive»: poss=agent of=patient |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His pretence of possessing knowledge he did not possess

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1833-pg7128-part17:e1:o3:1
# text = His pretence of possessing knowledge he did not possess
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	pretence	pretence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod:poss	_	_
3	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
4	possessing	possess	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
5	knowledge	knowledge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
7	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	possess	possess	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **possess** | gerund | His pretence *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 2 | **not** **possess** | past · do-support | he | His pretence's knowledge *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot knowledge=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His lie about having seen the stolen treasure with his own eyes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1833-pg7128-part17:e1:o4:1
# text = His lie about having seen the stolen treasure with his own eyes
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	lie	lie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	about	about	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
4	having	have	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	aux	_	_
5	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	stolen	steal	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
8	treasure	treasure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
9	with	with	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
11	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | gerund · perfect · passive |  | His lie |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **steal** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **lie** |  | His *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom lie «communication intransitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- 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 -->
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