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title: What was the principal cause of the prince's failure to embark upon… — Arabian Nights, Camaralzaman and Badou… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the principal cause of the prince's failure to embark upon the first vessel? Exam question 2 of lesson 204 «Arabian Nights, Camaralzaman and Badoura, part 44: the olives hide the gold and the talisman, and the prince is carried off» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dep
---

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# Exam question 2 · Arabian Nights, Camaralzaman and Badoura, part 44: the oli…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the principal cause of the prince's failure to embark upon the first vessel?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** prince · **What happens:** be, embark, fail · **To what, where:** principal cause

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 204 «Arabian Nights, Camaralzaman and Badoura, part 44: the olives hide the gold and the talisman, and the prince is carried off» 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/204-pg128-part44/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:204-pg128-part44:e2:1
# text = What was the principal cause of the prince's failure to embark upon the first vessel?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	failure	failure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	embark	embark	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	acl	_	_
13	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	16	amod	_	_
16	vessel	vessel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the principal cause |  |  |  | of the prince's failure | tree rules |
| 2 | **embark** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | upon the first vessel | tree rules |
| 3 | **fail** |  | the prince |  |  |  |  |  | nom failure «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 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The gardener's death, which delayed the prince's departure

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:204-pg128-part44:e2:o1:1
# text = The gardener's death, which delayed the prince's departure
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	gardener	gardener	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	delayed	delay	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	departure	departure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **delay** | past | the gardener's death | the prince's departure |  |  |  |  | vn delay-53.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent departure=Source |
| 2 | **die** |  | the gardener |  |  |  |  |  | nom death «event intransitive»: poss=agent |
| 3 | **depart** |  | the prince |  |  |  |  |  | nom departure «act intransitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The captain's sudden decision to sail before dawn

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:204-pg128-part44:e2:o2:1
# text = The captain's sudden decision to sail before dawn
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	captain	captain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	sudden	sudden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	decision	decision	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	sail	sail	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	_
8	before	before	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	dawn	dawn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sail** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  | dawn |  | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2-1 «NP.agent V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **decide** |  | the captain |  |  |  |  |  | nom decision «act transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The gardener's death, which delayed the prince's departure until the ship had already gone from the harbour

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:204-pg128-part44:e2:o3:1
# text = The gardener's death, which delayed the prince's departure until the ship had already gone from the harbour
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	gardener	gardener	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	delayed	delay	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	departure	departure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
12	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	ship	ship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nsubj	_	_
15	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
16	already	already	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	gone	go	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	7	advcl	_	_
18	from	from	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	harbour	harbour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **delay** | past | the gardener's death | the prince's departure |  |  |  |  | vn delay-53.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent departure=Source |
| 2 | **go** | past · perfect | the ship |  |  | the harbour |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme from harbour=Initial\_Location |
| 3 | **die** |  | the gardener |  |  |  |  |  | nom death «event intransitive»: poss=agent |
| 4 | **depart** |  | the prince |  |  |  |  |  | nom departure «act intransitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The loss of his bag on the way to the quay

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:204-pg128-part44:e2:o4:1
# text = The loss of his bag on the way to the quay
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	loss	loss	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	bag	bag	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	quay	quay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .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, Camaralzaman and Badou…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/204-pg128-part44/e1/)
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