---
title: By what virtue were the Barmecides distinguished, according to the n… — Arabian Nights, The Barber's Brothers,… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what virtue were the Barmecides distinguished, according to the narrator's account? Exam question 4 of lesson 195 «Arabian Nights, The Barber's Brothers, part 35: Alnaschar takes revenge, then is robbed and banished; Schacabac meets a Barmecide» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with 
---

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# Exam question 4 · Arabian Nights, The Barber's Brothers, part 35: Alnaschar…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what virtue were the Barmecides distinguished, according to the narrator's account?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Barmecides, narrator · **What happens:** be, accord, account

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 195 «Arabian Nights, The Barber's Brothers, part 35: Alnaschar takes revenge, then is robbed and banished; Schacabac meets a Barmecide» 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/195-pg128-part35/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:195-pg128-part35:e4:1
# text = By what virtue were the Barmecides distinguished, according to the narrator's account?
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
3	virtue	virtue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
4	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Barmecides	Barmecide	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	distinguished	distinguish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
9	according	accord	VERB	VBG	ExtPos=ADP|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	14	case	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	fixed	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	narrator	narrator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	's	's	PART	POS	_	12	case	_	_
14	account	account	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the Barmecides |  |  |  |  | distinguish *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **accord** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **account** |  | the narrator |  |  |  |  |  | nom account «communication transitive»: 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 -->
pride and cruelty alone

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:195-pg128-part35:e4:o1:1
# text = pride and cruelty alone
1	pride	pride	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	cruelty	cruelty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
4	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

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

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:195-pg128-part35:e4:o2:1
# text = virtue
1	virtue	virtue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
liberality and generosity

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:195-pg128-part35:e4:o3:1
# text = liberality and generosity
1	liberality	liberality	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	generosity	generosity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

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

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:195-pg128-part35:e4:o4:1
# text = wisdom
1	wisdom	wisdom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

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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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- ← previous: [Arabian Nights, The Barber's Brothers,…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/195-pg128-part35/e3/)
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