---
title: To what cause does the text attribute the cook's increased cruelty t… — Old Tales, Whittington and His Cat, pa… · tree and pragmatics
description: To what cause does the text attribute the cook's increased cruelty towards Dick after Alice's gift? Exam question 2 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 a
---

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# Exam question 2 · Old Tales, Whittington and His Cat, part 27: Dick's cat wi…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To what cause does the text attribute the cook's increased cruelty towards Dick after Alice's gift?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** cause, Alice · **What happens:** do, increase, gift · **To what, where:** text attribute

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 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/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1968-pg7439-part27:e2:1
# text = To what cause does the text attribute the cook's increased cruelty towards Dick after Alice's gift?
1	To	to	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
3	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	text	text	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	attribute	attribute	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	cook	cook	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	increased	increase	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	amod	_	_
12	cruelty	cruelty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
13	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	Dick	Dick	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
15	after	after	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	Alice	Alice	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	18	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	's	's	PART	POS	_	16	case	_	_
18	gift	gift	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present | cause | the text attribute |  |  | after Alice's gift | towards Dick | tree rules |
| 2 | **increase** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **gift** |  | Alice |  |  |  |  |  | nom gift «possession 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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Jealousy arising from Alice's favour towards him

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1968-pg7439-part27:e2:o1:1
# text = Jealousy arising from Alice's favour towards him
1	Jealousy	jealousy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	arising	arise	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	acl	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	Alice	Alice	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	favour	favour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **arise** | gerund | Jealousy *not said here* |  |  | Alice's favour |  | towards Alice | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **favour** |  | Alice |  |  |  |  |  | nom favour «feeling transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Jealousy arising from the cook's own debts, and from the kindness shown by the master's household to the boy and his cat

<!-- fold The tree, 24 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1968-pg7439-part27:e2:o2:1
# text = Jealousy arising from the cook's own debts, and from the kindness shown by the master's household to the boy and his cat
1	Jealousy	jealousy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	arising	arise	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	acl	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	cook	cook	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	debts	debt	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	from	from	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	kindness	kindness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
14	shown	show	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	13	acl	_	_
15	by	by	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	master	master	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	's	's	PART	POS	_	17	case	_	_
19	household	household	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
20	to	to	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
23	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
24	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	25	nmod:poss	_	_
25	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **arise** | gerund | Jealousy and the kindness and boy's cat *not said here* |  |  | the cook's own debts |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **show** | participle |  | the kindness *not said here* | the boy |  |  | by the master's household | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient how S»: agent=Agent to boy=Recipient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Envy of the favour Alice showed Dick each day

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1968-pg7439-part27:e2:o3:1
# text = Envy of the favour Alice showed Dick each day
1	Envy	envy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	favour	favour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
5	Alice	Alice	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	appos	_	_
6	showed	show	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	Dick	Dick	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
8	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
9	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | past | Envy of the favour |  | Dick |  | day |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent dick=Recipient |
| 2 | **envy** |  |  | the favour |  |  |  |  | nom envy «feeling transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Jealousy because Alice had given Dick the money to buy his cat and the cook wanted it herself

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1968-pg7439-part27:e2:o4:1
# text = Jealousy because Alice had given Dick the money to buy his cat and the cook wanted it herself
1	Jealousy	jealousy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
2	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
3	Alice	Alice	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	1	advcl	_	_
6	Dick	Dick	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	iobj	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	buy	buy	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	acl	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	cook	cook	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	_
16	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
17	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obj	_	_
18	herself	herself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	16	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | past · perfect | Alice | the money | Dick |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent dick=Recipient money=Theme |
| 2 | **buy** | to-infinitive | Alice *not said here* | Alice's cat and the cook |  |  |  |  | vn accept-77.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cat=Theme |
| 3 | **want** | past | Jealousy | money |  |  |  |  | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme herself=Attribute |

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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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