---
title: To which of the following circumstances may the death of the uncle b… — English Fairy Tales, The Children in t… · tree and pragmatics
description: To which of the following circumstances may the death of the uncle be most properly attributed? Exam question 2 of lesson 252 «English Fairy Tales, The Children in the Wood: the uncle's wicked plot and the lost babes» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmat
---

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# Exam question 2 · English Fairy Tales, The Children in the Wood: the uncle's…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To which of the following circumstances may the death of the uncle be most properly attributed?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** uncle · **What happens:** follow, attribute, die · **To what, where:** death

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 252 «English Fairy Tales, The Children in the Wood: the uncle's wicked plot and the lost babes» 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/252-pg14241-part19/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:252-pg14241-part19:e2:1
# text = To which of the following circumstances may the death of the uncle be most properly attributed?
1	To	to	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	16	obl	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	amod	_	_
6	circumstances	circumstance	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obl	_	_
7	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	uncle	uncle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
13	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	aux:pass	_	_
14	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	15	advmod	_	_
15	properly	properly	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	attributed	attribute	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	16	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **attribute** | may · passive |  | the death of the uncle |  |  |  | of the following circumstances; properly *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **die** |  | the uncle |  |  |  |  |  | nom death «event intransitive»: of=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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Hanging for the murder of the children

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:252-pg14241-part19:e2:o1:1
# text = Hanging for the murder of the children
1	Hanging	hang	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	for	for	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	murder	murder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hang** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | for the murder of the children | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **murder** |  |  | the children |  |  |  |  | nom murder «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A fever in the cell

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:252-pg14241-part19:e2:o2:1
# text = A fever in the cell
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	fever	fever	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	cell	cell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Poison

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:252-pg14241-part19:e2:o3:1
# text = Poison
1	Poison	poison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His imprisonment for debt, following his ruin

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:252-pg14241-part19:e2:o4:1
# text = His imprisonment for debt, following his ruin
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	imprisonment	imprisonment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	for	for	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	debt	debt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
7	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	ruin	ruin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund | His imprisonment for debt *not said here* | his ruin |  |  |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ruin=Theme |
| 2 | **imprison** |  | His *= he* |  |  |  |  | for debt | nom imprisonment «act transitive»: poss=agent for=obl |
| 3 | **ruin** |  | his *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom ruin «state transitive»: poss=agent |

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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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