---
title: By what means did the tailor and his wife seek to avert the conseque… — Arabian Nights, The Little Hunchback,… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did the tailor and his wife seek to avert the consequences of the hunchback's death? Exam question 3 of lesson 191 «Arabian Nights, The Little Hunchback, part 31: Sindbad ends his last voyage, and a hunchback dies at supper» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the depend
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/191-pg128-part31/e3/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/) / [Arabian Nights, The Little Hunchback,…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/191-pg128-part31/) / e3

# Exam question 3 · Arabian Nights, The Little Hunchback, part 31: Sindbad end…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did the tailor and his wife seek to avert the consequences of the hunchback's death?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** wife, hunchback · **What happens:** mean, do, seek, avert, die · **To what, where:** tailor, consequences · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 191 «Arabian Nights, The Little Hunchback, part 31: Sindbad ends his last voyage, and a hunchback dies at supper» 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/191-pg128-part31/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:191-pg128-part31:e3:1
# text = By what means did the tailor and his wife seek to avert the consequences of the hunchback's death?
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	tailor	tailor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	seek	seek	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	avert	avert	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	consequences	consequence	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obj	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	hunchback	hunchback	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	's	's	PART	POS	_	17	case	_	_
19	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **do** | past |  | the tailor |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tailor=Eventuality |
| 3 | **seek** | infinitive | tailor's wife |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **avert** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | tailor's wife *not said here* | the consequences of the hunchback's death |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **die** |  | the hunchback |  |  |  |  |  | nom death «event intransitive»: 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 -->
by bribing the nearby guard quietly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:191-pg128-part31:e3:o1:1
# text = by bribing the nearby guard quietly
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	bribing	bribe	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	nearby	nearby	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	guard	guard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	quietly	quietly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bribe** | gerund |  | the nearby guard |  |  |  | quietly *property* | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent guard=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by transferring suspicion to the doctor and fleeing the city

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:191-pg128-part31:e3:o2:1
# text = by transferring suspicion to the doctor and fleeing the city
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	transferring	transfer	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	suspicion	suspicion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	doctor	doctor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	fleeing	flee	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **transfer** | gerund |  | suspicion | the doctor |  |  |  | vn contribute-13.2-2 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent suspicion=Theme to doctor=Recipient |
| 2 | **flee** | gerund |  | the city |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme city=Initial\_Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by transferring suspicion to the doctor and his household

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:191-pg128-part31:e3:o3:1
# text = by transferring suspicion to the doctor and his household
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	transferring	transfer	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	suspicion	suspicion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	doctor	doctor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	household	household	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **transfer** | gerund |  | suspicion | the doctor and his household |  |  |  | vn contribute-13.2-2 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent suspicion=Theme to doctor=Recipient |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by transferring suspicion to the doctor

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:191-pg128-part31:e3:o4:1
# text = by transferring suspicion to the doctor
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	transferring	transfer	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	suspicion	suspicion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	doctor	doctor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **transfer** | gerund |  | suspicion | the doctor |  |  |  | vn contribute-13.2-2 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent suspicion=Theme to doctor=Recipient |

<!-- 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 -->
- ← previous: [Arabian Nights, The Little Hunchback,…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/191-pg128-part31/e2/)
- next →: [Arabian Nights, The Little Hunchback,…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/191-pg128-part31/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Arabian Nights, The Little Hunchback, part 31: Sindbad ends his last voyage, and a hunchback dies at supper](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/191-pg128-part31/)