---
title: To what natural phenomenon did the stepmother attribute the rattling… — English Fairy Tales, The Juniper Tree:… · tree and pragmatics
description: To what natural phenomenon did the stepmother attribute the rattling noise? Exam question 4 of lesson 1945 «English Fairy Tales, The Juniper Tree: the stepmother is crushed by a millstone after the bird sings the truth» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragm
---

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# Exam question 4 · English Fairy Tales, The Juniper Tree: the stepmother is c…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To what natural phenomenon did the stepmother attribute the rattling noise?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** stepmother · **What happens:** attribute · **To what, where:** rattling noise

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 1945 «English Fairy Tales, The Juniper Tree: the stepmother is crushed by a millstone after the bird sings the truth» 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/1945-pg7439-part4/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1945-pg7439-part4:e4:1
# text = To what natural phenomenon did the stepmother attribute the rattling noise?
1	To	to	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	8	obl	_	_
3	natural	natural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	phenomenon	phenomenon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
5	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	stepmother	stepmother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	attribute	attribute	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	rattling	rattling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	noise	noise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **attribute** | past · do-support | the stepmother | the rattling noise |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
a loud thunderclap at night

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1945-pg7439-part4:e4:o1:1
# text = a loud thunderclap at night
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	loud	loud	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	thunderclap	thunderclap	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
thunder

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1945-pg7439-part4:e4:o2:1
# text = thunder
1	thunder	thunder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a storm

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1945-pg7439-part4:e4:o3:1
# text = a storm
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	storm	storm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a wagon rolling over stones

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1945-pg7439-part4:e4:o4:1
# text = a wagon rolling over stones
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	wagon	wagon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	rolling	roll	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	over	over	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	stones	stone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **roll** | gerund | a wagon *not said here* |  |  | stones |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme over stone=Trajectory |

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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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