--- title: Which quality did the merchant ascribe to the Persian slave in his d… — Arabian Nights, The Fair Persian, part… · tree and pragmatics description: Which quality did the merchant ascribe to the Persian slave in his description to Khacan? Exam question 4 of lesson 206 «Arabian Nights, The Fair Persian, part 46: Khacan buys a slave for the king, and his son falls for her» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/206-pg128-part46/e4/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/) / [Arabian Nights, The Fair Persian, part…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/206-pg128-part46/) / e4 # Exam question 4 · Arabian Nights, The Fair Persian, part 46: Khacan buys a s… Which quality did the merchant ascribe to the Persian slave in his description to Khacan? **Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** merchant · **What happens:** ascribe, describe · **To what, where:** quality, description This is exam question 4 of lesson 206 «Arabian Nights, The Fair Persian, part 46: Khacan buys a slave for the king, and his son falls for her» 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/206-pg128-part46/#e4). ## The question {#question} ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:206-pg128-part46:e4:1 # text = Which quality did the merchant ascribe to the Persian slave in his description to Khacan? 1 Which which DET WDT PronType=Int 2 det _ _ 2 quality quality NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obj _ _ 3 did do AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 aux _ _ 4 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 5 merchant merchant NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 nsubj _ _ 6 ascribe ascribe VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ 7 to to ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 8 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 9 Persian persian ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 10 amod _ _ 10 slave slave NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obl _ _ 11 in in ADP IN _ 13 case _ _ 12 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 13 nmod:poss _ _ 13 description description NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obl _ _ 14 to to ADP IN _ 15 case _ _ 15 Khacan Khacan PROPN NNP Number=Sing 13 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 16 ? ? PUNCT . _ 6 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **ascribe** | past · do-support | the merchant | which quality | | merchant's description to Khacan | | to the Persian slave | tree rules | | 2 | **describe** | | merchant | | | | | to Khacan | nom description «communication transitive»: poss=agent to=obl | 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 {#o1} Fitness to be a king's slave and to serve the palace well ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:206-pg128-part46:e4:o1:1 # text = Fitness to be a king's slave and to serve the palace well 1 Fitness fitness NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 nsubj _ _ 2 to to PART TO _ 7 mark _ _ 3 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 7 cop _ _ 4 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 5 king king NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 6 's 's PART POS _ 5 case _ _ 7 slave slave NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ 8 and and CCONJ CC _ 10 cc _ _ 9 to to PART TO _ 10 mark _ _ 10 serve serve VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 7 conj _ _ 11 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 12 palace palace NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 obj _ _ 13 well well ADV RB Degree=Pos 10 advmod _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** | to-infinitive | Fitness | a king's slave | | | | | tree rules | | 2 | **serve** | to-infinitive | Fitness *not said here* | the palace | | | | well *property* | vn masquerade-29.6-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent palace=Attribute | ### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2} Her strong sense of duty ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:206-pg128-part46:e4:o2:1 # text = Her strong sense of duty 1 Her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 3 nmod:poss _ _ 2 strong strong ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 amod _ _ 3 sense sense NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ 4 of of ADP IN _ 5 case _ _ 5 duty duty NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nmod _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **sense** | | Her *= she* | duty | | | | | nom sense «cognition transitive»: poss=agent of=patient | ### Option 3 {#o3} Fitness to be a king's slave, being tall, young and graceful ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:206-pg128-part46:e4:o3:1 # text = Fitness to be a king's slave, being tall, young and graceful 1 Fitness fitness NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 nsubj _ _ 2 to to PART TO _ 7 mark _ _ 3 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 7 cop _ _ 4 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 5 king king NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 6 's 's PART POS _ 5 case _ _ 7 slave slave NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 8 , , PUNCT , _ 10 punct _ _ 9 being be AUX VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 10 cop _ _ 10 tall tall ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 7 amod _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 12 punct _ _ 12 young young ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 10 conj _ _ 13 and and CCONJ CC _ 14 cc _ _ 14 graceful graceful ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 10 conj _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** | to-infinitive | Fitness | a king's slave | | | | | tree rules | | 2 | **is** | gerund | | | | | | tall *property* | tree rules | | 3 | **be** | | | | | | | | tree rules | | 4 | **be** | | | | | | | | tree rules | ### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4} Fitness to be a king's slave ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:206-pg128-part46:e4:o4:1 # text = Fitness to be a king's slave 1 Fitness fitness NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ 2 to to PART TO _ 7 mark _ _ 3 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 7 cop _ _ 4 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 5 king king NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 6 's 's PART POS _ 5 case _ _ 7 slave slave NOUN NN Number=Sing 1 advcl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** | to-infinitive | | a king's slave | | | | | tree rules | **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. - ← previous: [Arabian Nights, The Fair Persian, part…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/206-pg128-part46/e3/) - next →: [Arabian Nights, Noureddin and the Beau…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/207-pg128-part47/t1/) - ↑ back to [Arabian Nights, The Fair Persian, part 46: Khacan buys a slave for the king, and his son falls for her](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/206-pg128-part46/)