---
title: Describe the reason the eldest daughter of the Norroway tale was ins… — Scottish Fairy Tales, The Golden Ball,… · tree and pragmatics
description: Describe the reason the eldest daughter of the Norroway tale was instructed to wait at the back-door. Exam question 4 of lesson 237 «Scottish Fairy Tales, The Golden Ball, My Own Self and the start of The Black Bull of Norroway: the lad beats the bogles, the lass is saved, a fairy child burns her fo
---

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# Exam question 4 · Scottish Fairy Tales, The Golden Ball, My Own Self and the…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Describe the reason the eldest daughter of the Norroway tale was instructed to wait at the back-door.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, reason · **What happens:** describe, instruct, wait · **To what, where:** reason, eldest daughter, back door

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 237 «Scottish Fairy Tales, The Golden Ball, My Own Self and the start of The Black Bull of Norroway: the lad beats the bogles, the lass is saved, a fairy child burns her foot, and a girl sets out for her fortune» 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/237-pg14241-part4/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:237-pg14241-part4:e4:1
# text = Describe the reason the eldest daughter of the Norroway tale was instructed to wait at the back-door.
1	Describe	describe	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	eldest	eld	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	6	amod	_	_
6	daughter	daughter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	Norroway	Norroway	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	tale	tale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
11	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	instructed	instruct	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	wait	wait	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	_
15	at	at	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
17	back	back	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	door	door	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **describe** | imperative | you *not said here* | the reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **instruct** *speech: other* | past · passive | the reason *not said here* | the eldest daughter of the Norroway tale |  |  |  |  | vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP how S\_INF»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 3 | **wait** | to-infinitive | the reason *not said here* |  |  | the back door |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at door=Location |

<!-- .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 -->
she was to look out and observe what she could see

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:237-pg14241-part4:e4:o1:1
# text = she was to look out and observe what she could see
1	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	out	out	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	observe	observe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
8	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	11	obj	_	_
9	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
10	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | she |  |  |  |  | look *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **observe** | infinitive | she *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **see** | could | she |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer what=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
so she could guard the house from thieves

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:237-pg14241-part4:e4:o2:1
# text = so she could guard the house from thieves
1	so	so	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	guard	guard	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	thieves	thief	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **guard** | could | she | the house |  |  |  | from thieves | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent house=Beneficiary from thief=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
she was to look out and observe what she could see and report it to her mother each evening

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:237-pg14241-part4:e4:o3:1
# text = she was to look out and observe what she could see and report it to her mother each evening
1	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	out	out	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	observe	observe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
8	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	11	obj	_	_
9	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
10	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	ccomp	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	report	report	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
14	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	_
15	to	to	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
17	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
18	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	19	det	_	_
19	evening	evening	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | she |  |  |  |  | look *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **observe** | infinitive | she *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **see** | could | she |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer what=Stimulus |
| 4 | **report** | infinitive | she *not said here* | it | her mother |  | evening |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent it=Topic to mother=Recipient |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
she was to look out and observe what she could see along the road until the coach came

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:237-pg14241-part4:e4:o4:1
# text = she was to look out and observe what she could see along the road until the coach came
1	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	out	out	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	observe	observe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
8	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	11	obj	_	_
9	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
10	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	ccomp	_	_
12	along	along	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	road	road	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
15	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	coach	coach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
18	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | she |  |  |  |  | look *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **observe** | infinitive | she *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **see** | could | she |  |  |  |  | along the road | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer what=Stimulus |
| 4 | **come** | past | the coach |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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- next →: [Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales, The Bla…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/238-pg14241-part5/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Scottish Fairy Tales, The Golden Ball, My Own Self and the start of The Black Bull of Norroway: the lad beats the bogles, the lass is saved, a fairy child burns her foot, and a girl sets out for her fortune](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/237-pg14241-part4/)