---
title: State the purpose of ploughing the field before the dragon's teeth w… — Tanglewood Tales, The Golden Fleece, p… · tree and pragmatics
description: State the purpose of ploughing the field before the dragon's teeth were sown. Exam question 4 of lesson 2082 «Tanglewood Tales, The Golden Fleece, part 41: Medea helps Jason tame the brazen bulls and sow the dragon's teeth» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and p
---

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# Exam question 4 · Tanglewood Tales, The Golden Fleece, part 41: Medea helps…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
State the purpose of ploughing the field before the dragon's teeth were sown.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** State purpose · **What happens:** plough, sow · **To what, where:** field, teeth

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 2082 «Tanglewood Tales, The Golden Fleece, part 41: Medea helps Jason tame the brazen bulls and sow the dragon's teeth» 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/2082-pg976-part41/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2082-pg976-part41:e4:1
# text = State the purpose of ploughing the field before the dragon's teeth were sown.
1	State	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	ploughing	plough	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	field	field	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	dragon	dragon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj:pass	_	_
13	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux:pass	_	_
14	sown	sow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **plough** | gerund | the State purpose *not said here* | the field |  |  |  |  | vn wipe\_instr-10.4.2 «NP V NP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent field=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **sow** | past · passive |  | the dragon's teeth |  |  |  |  | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP.theme»: 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 -->
To cut deep furrows so the water can run from the field into the river

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2082-pg976-part41:e4:o1:1
# text = To cut deep furrows so the water can run from the field into the river
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	cut	cut	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	deep	deep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	furrows	furrow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	run	run	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
10	from	from	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	field	field	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	into	into	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut** | to-infinitive |  | deep furrows |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset furrow=Product |
| 2 | **run** | can | the water |  |  | the field |  | into the river *result* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.result»: agent=Theme into river=Result |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To make the soil soft for planting

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2082-pg976-part41:e4:o2:1
# text = To make the soil soft for planting
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	make	make	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	soil	soil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	soft	soft	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	planting	planting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | to-infinitive |  | the soil |  |  |  | soft *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset soil=Product |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To kill the weeds and grass

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2082-pg976-part41:e4:o3:1
# text = To kill the weeds and grass
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	kill	kill	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	weeds	weed	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **kill** | to-infinitive |  | the weeds and grass |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent weed=Theme |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To prepare black earth for sowing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2082-pg976-part41:e4:o4:1
# text = To prepare black earth for sowing
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	prepare	prepare	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	black	black	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	earth	earth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	sowing	sowing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prepare** | to-infinitive |  | black earth |  |  |  | for sowing | vn preparing-26.3-1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent earth=Product for sowing=Beneficiary |

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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: [Tanglewood Tales, The Golden Fleece, p…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/2082-pg976-part41/e3/)
- next →: [Tanglewood Tales, The Golden Fleece, p…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/2083-pg976-part42/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Tanglewood Tales, The Golden Fleece, part 41: Medea helps Jason tame the brazen bulls and sow the dragon's teeth](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/2082-pg976-part41/)