---
title: What method did the ass employ to release its currency when its ears… — English Fairy Tales, The Ass, the Tabl… · tree and pragmatics
description: What method did the ass employ to release its currency when its ears were pulled? Exam question 1 of lesson 1973 «English Fairy Tales, The Ass, the Table, and the Stick: Jack gets three magic gifts, loses two, and wins his sweetheart» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency
---

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# Exam question 1 · English Fairy Tales, The Ass, the Table, and the Stick: Ja…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What method did the ass employ to release its currency when its ears were pulled?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** method · **What happens:** do, release, pull · **To what, where:** ass employ, currency, ears

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 1973 «English Fairy Tales, The Ass, the Table, and the Stick: Jack gets three magic gifts, loses two, and wins his sweetheart» 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/1973-pg7439-part32/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1973-pg7439-part32:e1:1
# text = What method did the ass employ to release its currency when its ears were pulled?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	obj	_	_
2	method	method	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	ass	ass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	employ	employ	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	release	release	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	acl	_	_
9	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	currency	currency	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	15	advmod	_	_
12	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	ears	ear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nsubj:pass	_	_
14	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux:pass	_	_
15	pulled	pull	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past | method | the ass employ |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **release** | to-infinitive | method *not said here* | method's currency |  |  |  |  | vn free-10.6.3-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Causer currency=Source |
| 3 | **pull** | past · passive |  | method's ears |  |  |  |  | vn push-12-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
By dropping coins from its tail

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1973-pg7439-part32:e1:o1:1
# text = By dropping coins from its tail
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	dropping	drop	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	coins	coin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drop** | gerund |  | coins |  | its tail |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent coin=Theme from tail=Destination |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By braying until coins fell from its mouth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1973-pg7439-part32:e1:o2:1
# text = By braying until coins fell from its mouth
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	braying	bray	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
3	until	until	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	coins	coin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
5	fell	fall	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	mouth	mouth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bray** | gerund |  |  |  |  | until coins |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **fall** | past |  |  |  | its mouth |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from mouth=Initial\_Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By shaking its great head until coins tumbled out

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1973-pg7439-part32:e1:o3:1
# text = By shaking its great head until coins tumbled out
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	shaking	shake	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
4	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	until	until	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	coins	coin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
8	tumbled	tumble	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
9	out	out	ADP	RP	_	8	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shake** | gerund |  | its great head |  |  | until coins |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent head=Patient |
| 2 | **tumble out** | participle |  | coins *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By braying loudly until coins fell from its mouth onto the ground

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1973-pg7439-part32:e1:o4:1
# text = By braying loudly until coins fell from its mouth onto the ground
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	braying	bray	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	advcl	_	_
3	loudly	loudly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	until	until	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	coins	coin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
6	fell	fall	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	mouth	mouth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	onto	onto	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bray** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | loudly *property* | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **fall** | past |  |  |  | its mouth | until coins | onto the ground | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location PP.destination»: agent=Theme from mouth=Initial\_Location onto ground=Destination |

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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: [English Fairy Tales, The Ass, the Tabl…, test 13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1973-pg7439-part32/t13/)
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