---
title: Why did Simon get the two goats in the first place? — Olive Fairy Book, The Biter Bit, part… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why did Simon get the two goats in the first place? Test 8 · ★ of lesson 1906 «Olive Fairy Book, The Biter Bit, part 1: Simon buys a mule that three rogues swear is a donkey» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mov
---

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# Test 8 · ★ · Olive Fairy Book, The Biter Bit, part 1: Simon buys a mule…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why did Simon get the two goats in the first place?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Simon · **What happens:** get · **To what, where:** two goats, first place

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★ of lesson 1906 «Olive Fairy Book, The Biter Bit, part 1: Simon buys a mule that three rogues swear is a donkey» of the books course of Mova's primary school. 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/1906-pg7277-part43/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1906-pg7277-part43:t8:1
# text = Why did Simon get the two goats in the first place?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	Simon	Simon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	goats	goat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	11	amod	_	_
11	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | past · do-support | Simon | the two goats |  | the first place |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer goat=Stimulus |

<!-- .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 -->
Cos they were all white

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1906-pg7277-part43:t8:o1:1
# text = Cos they were all white
1	Cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	all	all	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | they |  |  |  |  | all, white *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cos he wanted to ride one of them home and the other to carry the shopping back from the village

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1906-pg7277-part43:t8:o2:1
# text = Cos he wanted to ride one of them home and the other to carry the shopping back from the village
1	Cos	cos	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	ride	ride	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nmod	_	_
9	home	home	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	carry	carry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	shopping	shopping	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
17	back	back	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
18	from	from	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	village	village	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | past | Cos |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **ride** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Cos *not said here* | one of them |  |  |  | home *property* | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent one=Theme |
| 3 | **carry back** | to-infinitive | Cos *not said here* | the shopping |  | the village |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent shopping=Theme from village=Initial\_Location |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cos they were dead identical

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1906-pg7277-part43:t8:o3:1
# text = Cos they were dead identical
1	Cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	identical	identical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | they |  |  |  |  | identical *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Cos the peasant offered him a bargain and he thought the goats would fetch good money at the market in town

<!-- fold The tree, 21 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1906-pg7277-part43:t8:o4:1
# text = Cos the peasant offered him a bargain and he thought the goats would fetch good money at the market in town
1	Cos	cos	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	peasant	peasant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	offered	offer	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	iobj	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	bargain	bargain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	thought	think	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	goats	goat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
13	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	fetch	fetch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	ccomp	_	_
15	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
17	at	at	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	market	market	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
20	in	in	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **offer** | past | the peasant | a bargain | him *= he* |  |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.goal NP»: agent=Agent he=Goal bargain=Theme |
| 2 | **think** *speech: other* | past | peasant |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 3 | **fetch** | would | the goats | good money |  | the market |  | in town | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP PP.source NP.asset»: agent=Agent money=Theme at market=Asset |

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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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