---
title: Identify the agent responsible for the destruction of the serpent's… — Pentamerone, The Serpent, part 42: the… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the agent responsible for the destruction of the serpent's skin within the chamber of the palace. Exam question 2 of lesson 1905 «Pentamerone, The Serpent, part 42: the skin burns, the prince becomes a dove, and Grannonia goes after him with a fox» of the books course of Mova's primary scho
---

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# Exam question 2 · Pentamerone, The Serpent, part 42: the skin burns, the pri…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the agent responsible for the destruction of the serpent's skin within the chamber of the palace.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, destroy · **To what, where:** agent, skin

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1905 «Pentamerone, The Serpent, part 42: the skin burns, the prince becomes a dove, and Grannonia goes after him with a fox» 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/1905-pg7277-part42/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1905-pg7277-part42:e2:1
# text = Identify the agent responsible for the destruction of the serpent's skin within the chamber of the palace.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	agent	agent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	responsible	responsible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	destruction	destruction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	serpent	serpent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	skin	skin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
13	within	within	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	chamber	chamber	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	palace	palace	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the agent |  |  |  | within the chamber of the palace | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent agent=Theme |
| 2 | **destroy** |  |  | the serpent's skin |  |  |  |  | nom destruction «act transitive»: of=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 -->
The parents of the Princess, who threw it into the fire in great haste and fear.

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1905-pg7277-part42:e2:o1:1
# text = The parents of the Princess, who threw it into the fire in great haste and fear.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Princess	Princess	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
8	threw	throw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
10	into	into	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	haste	haste	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
17	fear	fear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **throw** | past | the parents of the Princess | it |  |  |  | into the fire *result*; in great haste and fear | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.result»: agent=Causer it=Theme into fire=Result |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The parents of the Princess, acting in haste.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1905-pg7277-part42:e2:o2:1
# text = The parents of the Princess, acting in haste.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Princess	Princess	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	acting	act	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	haste	haste	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **act** | gerund | the parents of the Princess |  |  | haste |  |  | vn act-114-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Princess's parents and their household servants, acting together in complete haste.

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1905-pg7277-part42:e2:o3:1
# text = The Princess's parents and their household servants, acting together in complete haste.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Princess	Princess	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
6	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	household	household	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	servants	servant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	acting	act	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
11	together	together	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	complete	complete	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	haste	haste	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **act** | gerund | the Princess's parents and parents's household servants |  |  | complete haste |  | together *property* | vn act-114-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The servants of the palace, acting in fear.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1905-pg7277-part42:e2:o4:1
# text = The servants of the palace, acting in fear.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	servants	servant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	palace	palace	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	acting	act	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	fear	fear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **act** | gerund | the servants of the palace |  |  | fear |  |  | vn act-114-1-1 «NP V»: 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: [Pentamerone, The Serpent, part 42: the…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1905-pg7277-part42/e1/)
- next →: [Pentamerone, The Serpent, part 42: the…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1905-pg7277-part42/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Pentamerone, The Serpent, part 42: the skin burns, the prince becomes a dove, and Grannonia goes after him with a fox](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1905-pg7277-part42/)