---
title: To what extent did the strategy of the Pygmy captains succeed in the… — Tanglewood Tales, The Pygmies: the Pyg… · tree and pragmatics
description: To what extent did the strategy of the Pygmy captains succeed in their stated objective of destroying the sleeping Hercules before he could rise? Exam question 2 of lesson 2054 «Tanglewood Tales, The Pygmies: the Pygmies try to finish off the sleeping Hercules, but he wakes, laughs at their champion
---

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# Exam question 2 · Tanglewood Tales, The Pygmies: the Pygmies try to finish o…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To what extent did the strategy of the Pygmy captains succeed in their stated objective of destroying the sleeping Hercules before he could rise?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** extent, Pygmy captains, stated objective · **What happens:** do, succeed, state, destroy, sleep, rise · **To what, where:** strategy, stated objective, sleeping Hercules

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 2054 «Tanglewood Tales, The Pygmies: the Pygmies try to finish off the sleeping Hercules, but he wakes, laughs at their champion, spares them, and leaves» 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/2054-pg976-part13/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2054-pg976-part13:e2:1
# text = To what extent did the strategy of the Pygmy captains succeed in their stated objective of destroying the sleeping Hercules before he could rise?
1	To	to	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
3	extent	extent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	strategy	strategy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	Pygmy	pygmy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	captains	captain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
11	succeed	succeed	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
14	stated	state	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	15	amod	_	_
15	objective	objective	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
16	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
17	destroying	destroy	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	15	acl	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	sleeping	sleep	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	20	amod	_	_
20	Hercules	Hercules	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	_
21	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
22	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
23	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	24	aux	_	_
24	rise	rise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past | extent | the strategy |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **succeed** | present | the Pygmy captains | the strategy *not said here* |  | captains's stated objective |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **state** *speech: other* | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **destroy** | gerund | captains's stated objective *not said here* | the sleeping Hercules |  |  |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hercules=Patient |
| 5 | **sleep** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **rise** | could | extent |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=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 -->
It failed, since Hercules awoke, extinguished his burning hair, and retained his composure

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2054-pg976-part13:e2:o1:1
# text = It failed, since Hercules awoke, extinguished his burning hair, and retained his composure
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	failed	fail	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
4	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	Hercules	Hercules	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	awoke	awake	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	extinguished	extinguish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
10	burning	burn	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	11	amod	_	_
11	hair	hair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	retained	retain	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
15	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	composure	composure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fail** | past | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **awake** | past | Hercules |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **extinguish** | past | Hercules *not said here* | Hercules's burning hair |  |  |  |  | vn remedy-45.7-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent hair=Patient |
| 4 | **burn** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **retain** | past |  | Hercules's composure |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It succeeded, since Hercules burned badly and remained asleep until the fire died

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2054-pg976-part13:e2:o2:1
# text = It succeeded, since Hercules burned badly and remained asleep until the fire died
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	succeeded	succeed	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
4	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	Hercules	Hercules	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	burned	burn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
7	badly	badly	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	6	advmod	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	remained	remain	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	asleep	asleep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	xcomp	_	_
11	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
14	died	die	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **succeed** | past | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **burn** | past | Hercules |  |  |  |  | badly *property* | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP.location V PP.theme»: agent=Location |
| 3 | **remain** | past |  |  |  |  |  | asleep *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **die** | past | the fire |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It failed entirely, since Hercules awoke at once, put out his burning hair with his hands, and remained calm, composed, and unmoved throughout the whole affair

<!-- fold The tree, 26 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2054-pg976-part13:e2:o3:1
# text = It failed entirely, since Hercules awoke at once, put out his burning hair with his hands, and remained calm, composed, and unmoved throughout the whole affair
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	failed	fail	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	Hercules	Hercules	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	awoke	awake	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
11	put	put	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	conj	_	_
12	out	out	ADP	RP	_	11	compound:prt	_	_
13	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
14	burning	burn	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	15	amod	_	_
15	hair	hair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
16	with	with	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
21	remained	remain	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
22	calm	calm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
24	composed	compose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	21	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
26	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
27	unmoved	unmoved	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	parataxis	_	_
28	throughout	throughout	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
30	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	31	amod	_	_
31	affair	affair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fail** | past | It |  |  |  |  | entirely *property* | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **awake** | past | Hercules |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at once=Location |
| 3 | **put out** | infinitive | Hercules *not said here* | Hercules's burning hair |  |  |  | with Hercules's hands | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent hair=Goal |
| 4 | **burn** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **remain** | past |  |  |  |  |  | calm *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **compose** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It failed, since Hercules awoke, extinguished his burning hair, retained his composure, and then laughed at the captains for their foolish plan of attack

<!-- fold The tree, 24 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2054-pg976-part13:e2:o4:1
# text = It failed, since Hercules awoke, extinguished his burning hair, retained his composure, and then laughed at the captains for their foolish plan of attack
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	failed	fail	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
4	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
5	Hercules	Hercules	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	awoke	awake	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	extinguished	extinguish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
10	burning	burn	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	11	amod	_	_
11	hair	hair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
13	retained	retain	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	composure	composure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
18	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	19	advmod	_	_
19	laughed	laugh	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
20	at	at	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	captains	captain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	obl	_	_
23	for	for	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
24	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	26	nmod:poss	_	_
25	foolish	foolish	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	amod	_	_
26	plan	plan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	_
27	of	of	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
28	attack	attack	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fail** | past | It |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **awake** | past | Hercules |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **extinguish** | past | Hercules *not said here* | Hercules's burning hair |  |  |  |  | vn remedy-45.7-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent hair=Patient |
| 4 | **burn** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **retain** | past |  | Hercules's composure |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **laugh** | past |  |  |  | the captains | then | for captains's foolish plan of attack | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 7 | **plan** |  | captains *= captain* | attack |  |  |  |  | nom plan «cognition transitive»: poss=agent of=patient |

<!-- div src -->

**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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