---
title: What was the sentence imposed upon the Christian merchant, as commun… — Arabian Nights, The Story of the Hunch… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the sentence imposed upon the Christian merchant, as communicated by the chief of police to the criers? Exam question 3 of lesson 192 «Arabian Nights, The Story of the Hunchback, part 32: a dead hunchback is passed from house to house, and three innocent men nearly hang» of the books course
---

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# Exam question 3 · Arabian Nights, The Story of the Hunchback, part 32: a dea…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the sentence imposed upon the Christian merchant, as communicated by the chief of police to the criers?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **What happens:** be, impose, communicate · **To what, where:** sentence

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 192 «Arabian Nights, The Story of the Hunchback, part 32: a dead hunchback is passed from house to house, and three innocent men nearly hang» 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/192-pg128-part32/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:192-pg128-part32:e3:1
# text = What was the sentence imposed upon the Christian merchant, as communicated by the chief of police to the criers?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	imposed	impose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	Christian	Christian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	merchant	merchant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
12	communicated	communicate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
13	by	by	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	police	police	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nmod	_	_
18	to	to	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	criers	crier	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the sentence |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **impose** | participle |  | the sentence *not said here* |  |  |  | upon the Christian merchant | vn enforce-63 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **communicate** | participle |  | the sentence *not said here* |  |  |  | by the chief of police; to the criers | vn correspond-36.1 «NP V»: agent=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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Execution by hanging in the public square for the killing of a Mussulman

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:192-pg128-part32:e3:o1:1
# text = Execution by hanging in the public square for the killing of a Mussulman
1	Execution	execution	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
3	hanging	hang	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	acl	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	public	public	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	square	square	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	killing	killing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	Mussulman	Mussulman	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hang** | gerund | Execution *not said here* |  |  | the public square |  | for the killing of a Mussulman | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in square=Location |
| 2 | **kill** |  |  | a Mussulman |  |  |  |  | nom killing «event transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fine and exile

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:192-pg128-part32:e3:o2:1
# text = Fine and exile
1	Fine	fine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	exile	exile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A public whipping for striking a Mussulman in the street

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:192-pg128-part32:e3:o3:1
# text = A public whipping for striking a Mussulman in the street
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	public	public	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	whipping	whipping	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	striking	strike	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	Mussulman	Mussulman	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	street	street	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **strike** | gerund | a public whipping *not said here* | a Mussulman |  | the street |  |  | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent mussulman=Instrument |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Confiscation of all wealth for the crime of murder

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:192-pg128-part32:e3:o4:1
# text = Confiscation of all wealth for the crime of murder
1	Confiscation	confiscation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	det	_	_
4	wealth	wealth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	crime	crime	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	murder	murder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confiscate** |  |  | all wealth |  |  |  | for the crime of murder | nom confiscation «act transitive»: of=patient for=obl |
| 2 | **incriminate** |  |  | murder |  |  |  |  | nom crime «act transitive»: of=patient |

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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: [Arabian Nights, The Story of the Hunch…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/192-pg128-part32/e2/)
- next →: [Arabian Nights, The Story of the Hunch…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/192-pg128-part32/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Arabian Nights, The Story of the Hunchback, part 32: a dead hunchback is passed from house to house, and three innocent men nearly hang](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/192-pg128-part32/)