---
title: On what grounds did Mr. Fitzwarren decline Miss Alice's offer of mon… — Old Tales, Whittington and His Cat, pa… · tree and pragmatics
description: On what grounds did Mr. Fitzwarren decline Miss Alice's offer of money for Dick's venture? Exam question 1 of lesson 1968 «Old Tales, Whittington and His Cat, part 27: Dick's cat wins his place at court across the sea» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragma
---

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# Exam question 1 · Old Tales, Whittington and His Cat, part 27: Dick's cat wi…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
On what grounds did Mr. Fitzwarren decline Miss Alice's offer of money for Dick's venture?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** grounds, Miss, Dick · **What happens:** do, offer, venture · **To what, where:** offer, money

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 1968 «Old Tales, Whittington and His Cat, part 27: Dick's cat wins his place at court across the sea» 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/1968-pg7439-part27/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1968-pg7439-part27:e1:1
# text = On what grounds did Mr. Fitzwarren decline Miss Alice's offer of money for Dick's venture?
1	On	on	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
3	grounds	grounds	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	4	nsubj	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	Mr.	Mr.	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod:desc	_	_
6	Fitzwarren	Fitzwarren	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	decline	decline	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:desc	_	_
8	Miss	Miss	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	_
9	Alice	Alice	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
11	offer	offer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	Dick	Dick	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	's	's	PART	POS	_	15	case	_	_
17	venture	venture	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past | grounds | Miss  Fitzwarren decline's offer of money |  |  |  | for Dick's venture | tree rules |
| 2 | **offer** |  | Miss  Fitzwarren decline | money |  |  |  |  | nom offer «communication transitive»: poss=agent of=patient |
| 3 | **venture** |  | Dick |  |  |  |  |  | nom venture «act 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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because the venture must be the servant's own property

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1968-pg7439-part27:e1:o1:1
# text = Because the venture must be the servant's own property
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	venture	venture	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	cop	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	servant	servant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	property	property	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | must | the venture |  |  |  |  | 's the servant | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because the money was too small

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1968-pg7439-part27:e1:o2:1
# text = Because the money was too small
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	too	too	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the money |  |  |  |  | small *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because the money had been given by the girl's own father

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1968-pg7439-part27:e1:o3:1
# text = Because the money had been given by the girl's own father
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	girl	girl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | past · perfect · passive | the girl's own father | the money |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because the rules of the house say that only what a servant owns may be sent to sea, and Alice's money was not his

<!-- fold The tree, 25 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1968-pg7439-part27:e1:o4:1
# text = Because the rules of the house say that only what a servant owns may be sent to sea, and Alice's money was not his
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
9	only	only	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	16	obl	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	servant	servant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	owns	own	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	acl:relcl	_	_
14	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
15	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	aux:pass	_	_
16	sent	send	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	ccomp	_	_
17	to	to	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
21	Alice	Alice	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	23	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	's	's	PART	POS	_	21	case	_	_
23	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	nsubj	_	_
24	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	26	cop	_	_
25	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	26	advmod	_	_
26	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | the rules of the house |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **own** | present | a servant |  |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 3 | **send** | may · passive |  |  |  | sea |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: to sea=Destination |
| 4 | **not** **is a** | past | Alice's money | servant |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **rule** |  | the house |  |  |  |  |  | nom rule «cognition intransitive»: of=agent |

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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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