---
title: By what means did Medea propose that the poison be administered to T… — A Wonder-Book, The Minotaur, part 4: M… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did Medea propose that the poison be administered to Theseus? Exam question 2 of lesson 2045 «A Wonder-Book, The Minotaur, part 4: Medea's poisoned wine nearly kills Theseus before his father recognizes him» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pra
---

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# Exam question 2 · A Wonder-Book, The Minotaur, part 4: Medea's poisoned wine…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did Medea propose that the poison be administered to Theseus?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Medea · **What happens:** mean, propose, administer · **To what, where:** poison, Theseus

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 2045 «A Wonder-Book, The Minotaur, part 4: Medea's poisoned wine nearly kills Theseus before his father recognizes him» 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/2045-pg976-part4/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2045-pg976-part4:e2:1
# text = By what means did Medea propose that the poison be administered to Theseus?
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	6	obl	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
4	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	Medea	Medea	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	propose	propose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	poison	poison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
10	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	administered	administer	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	ccomp	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	Theseus	Theseus	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **propose** | past · do-support | Medea |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **administer** | infinitive · passive |  | the poison | Theseus |  |  |  | vn contribute-13.2-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: subject=Theme to theseus=Recipient |

<!-- .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 -->
By a single drop placed in a goblet of wine

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2045-pg976-part4:e2:o1:1
# text = By a single drop placed in a goblet of wine
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	drop	drop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	placed	place	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	goblet	goblet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	wine	wine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **place** | participle |  | a single drop *not said here* |  | a goblet of wine |  |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent in goblet=Destination |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By a single drop, slipped secretly into a goblet of wine offered to him at the feast by the king

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2045-pg976-part4:e2:o2:1
# text = By a single drop, slipped secretly into a goblet of wine offered to him at the feast by the king
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	drop	drop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	slipped	slip	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	secretly	secretly	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	into	into	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	goblet	goblet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	wine	wine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
13	offered	offer	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	acl	_	_
14	to	to	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obl	_	_
16	at	at	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	feast	feast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
19	by	by	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **slip** | past |  |  |  | a goblet of wine |  | by a single drop; by the king; secretly *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 2 | **offer** | participle |  | wine *not said here* | him *= he* | the feast |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP PP.goal»: agent=Agent to he=Goal |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By a mixture hidden in his honey cake

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2045-pg976-part4:e2:o3:1
# text = By a mixture hidden in his honey cake
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	mixture	mixture	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	hidden	hide	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	honey	honey	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	cake	cake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hide** | participle |  | a mixture *not said here* |  | his honey cake |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in cake=Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By a single drop in his bowl of broth

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2045-pg976-part4:e2:o4:1
# text = By a single drop in his bowl of broth
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	single	single	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	drop	drop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	bowl	bowl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	broth	broth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	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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