---
title: Describe the precise cause of the failure of the second attempt to r… — Household Tales, The Golden Bird, part… · tree and pragmatics
description: Describe the precise cause of the failure of the second attempt to remove the golden horse from the stables. Exam question 3 of lesson 1934 «Household Tales, The Golden Bird, part 71: the Prince fails to steal the golden horse and is caught» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dep
---

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# Exam question 3 · Household Tales, The Golden Bird, part 71: the Prince fail…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Describe the precise cause of the failure of the second attempt to remove the golden horse from the stables.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, second attempt · **What happens:** describe, remove, cause, fail · **To what, where:** precise cause, golden horse, stables, failure

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 1934 «Household Tales, The Golden Bird, part 71: the Prince fails to steal the golden horse and is caught» 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/1934-pg7277-part71/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1934-pg7277-part71:e3:1
# text = Describe the precise cause of the failure of the second attempt to remove the golden horse from the stables.
1	Describe	describe	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	precise	precise	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	failure	failure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	second	second	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	11	amod	_	_
11	attempt	attempt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	remove	remove	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	acl	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	golden	golden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
17	from	from	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	stables	stable	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **describe** | imperative | you *not said here* | the precise cause of the failure of the second attempt |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent cause=Theme |
| 2 | **remove** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* | the golden horse |  | the stables |  |  | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent horse=Theme from stable=Source |
| 3 | **cause** |  |  | the failure of the second attempt |  |  |  |  | nom cause «event transitive»: of=patient |
| 4 | **fail** |  | the second attempt |  |  |  |  |  | nom failure «act intransitive»: of=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
the horse's mane caught the rope as it went out

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1934-pg7277-part71:e3:o1:1
# text = the horse's mane caught the rope as it went out
1	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	mane	mane	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	caught	catch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	rope	rope	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
11	out	out	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **catch** | past | the horse's mane | the rope |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rope=Theme |
| 2 | **go out** | past | mane |  |  |  |  | out *property* | vn interact-36.6 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
the guards woke up

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1934-pg7277-part71:e3:o2:1
# text = the guards woke up
1	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	guards	guard	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	woke	wake	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	up	up	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wake up** | past | the guards |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
the horse's tail struck the wall as it was led out

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1934-pg7277-part71:e3:o3:1
# text = the horse's tail struck the wall as it was led out
1	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	struck	strike	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	led	lead	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	advcl	_	_
12	out	out	ADP	RP	_	11	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **strike** | past | the horse's tail | the wall |  |  |  |  | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wall=Patient |
| 2 | **lead out** | past · passive |  | tail |  |  |  |  | vn accompany-51.7 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
the wolf's cloak snagged the gate as he left

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1934-pg7277-part71:e3:o4:1
# text = the wolf's cloak snagged the gate as he left
1	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	wolf	wolf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	cloak	cloak	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	snagged	snag	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	gate	gate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	left	leave	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **snag** | past | the wolf's cloak | the gate |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **leave** | past | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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