---
title: By what instrument did Blacky sever the cords binding his siblings? — Fairy Book, Blacky, Browny and Whitey:… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what instrument did Blacky sever the cords binding his siblings? Exam question 2 of lesson 1887 «Fairy Book, Blacky, Browny and Whitey: the fox is scalded in the kettle» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova'
---

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# Exam question 2 · Fairy Book, Blacky, Browny and Whitey: the fox is scalded…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what instrument did Blacky sever the cords binding his siblings?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Blacky, cords · **What happens:** sever, bind · **To what, where:** cords, siblings

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 1887 «Fairy Book, Blacky, Browny and Whitey: the fox is scalded in the kettle» 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/1887-pg7277-part24/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1887-pg7277-part24:e2:1
# text = By what instrument did Blacky sever the cords binding his siblings?
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	6	obj	_	_
3	instrument	instrument	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
4	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	Blacky	Blacky	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	sever	sever	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	cords	cord	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
9	binding	bind	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	acl	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	siblings	sibling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sever** | past · do-support | Blacky | the cords |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **bind** | gerund | the cords *not said here* | Blacky's siblings |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sibling=Patient |

<!-- .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 sharp teeth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1887-pg7277-part24:e2:o1:1
# text = His sharp teeth
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	sharp	sharp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A knife

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1887-pg7277-part24:e2:o2:1
# text = A knife
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	knife	knife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A sharp stone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1887-pg7277-part24:e2:o3:1
# text = A sharp stone
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	sharp	sharp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A thorn bush

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1887-pg7277-part24:e2:o4:1
# text = A thorn bush
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	thorn	thorn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	bush	bush	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

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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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- ← previous: [Fairy Book, Blacky, Browny and Whitey:…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1887-pg7277-part24/e1/)
- next →: [Fairy Book, Blacky, Browny and Whitey:…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1887-pg7277-part24/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Fairy Book, Blacky, Browny and Whitey: the fox is scalded in the kettle](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1887-pg7277-part24/)