---
title: What was the sole means by which the captive persons could be releas… — Fairy Tales, The Magic Swan, part 1: P… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the sole means by which the captive persons could be released? Exam question 3 of lesson 1902 «Fairy Tales, The Magic Swan, part 1: Peter's swan catches a crowd and the Princess laughs at last» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the ques
---

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# Exam question 3 · Fairy Tales, The Magic Swan, part 1: Peter's swan catches…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the sole means by which the captive persons could be released?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** sole · **What happens:** be, release · **To what, where:** captive persons · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1902 «Fairy Tales, The Magic Swan, part 1: Peter's swan catches a crowd and the Princess laughs at last» 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/1902-pg7277-part39/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1902-pg7277-part39:e3:1
# text = What was the sole means by which the captive persons could be released?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	obj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	sole	sole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	obl	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	captive	captive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
12	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	released	release	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the sole |  |  |  |  | mean *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **release** | could · passive |  | the captive persons |  |  |  |  | vn free-10.6.3-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: subject=Source |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The touch of a little stick presented by the old woman

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1902-pg7277-part39:e3:o1:1
# text = The touch of a little stick presented by the old woman
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	touch	touch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	stick	stick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
7	presented	present	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **present** | participle |  | a little stick *not said here* |  |  |  | by the old woman | vn fulfilling-13.4.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **touch** |  |  | a little stick |  |  |  |  | nom touch «event transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The gift of a golden key from the mayor.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1902-pg7277-part39:e3:o2:1
# text = The gift of a golden key from the mayor.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	gift	gift	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	golden	golden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	key	key	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	mayor	mayor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **gift** |  |  | a golden key from the mayor |  |  |  |  | nom gift «possession transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A sword given by the old soldier at dawn.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1902-pg7277-part39:e3:o3:1
# text = A sword given by the old soldier at dawn.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	soldier	soldier	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:agent	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	dawn	dawn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | participle |  | a sword *not said here* |  |  | dawn |  | vn break\_down-45.8 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A ring of silver offered by the Seagull.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1902-pg7277-part39:e3:o4:1
# text = A ring of silver offered by the Seagull.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ring	ring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	silver	silver	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	offered	offer	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	Seagull	seagull	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **offer** | participle |  | a ring of silver *not said here* |  |  |  | by the Seagull | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Fairy Tales, The Magic Swan, part 1: P…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1902-pg7277-part39/e2/)
- next →: [Fairy Tales, The Magic Swan, part 1: P…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1902-pg7277-part39/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Fairy Tales, The Magic Swan, part 1: Peter's swan catches a crowd and the Princess laughs at last](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1902-pg7277-part39/)