---
title: By what means did the two impostors obtain the materials they claime… — Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Emperor's… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did the two impostors obtain the materials they claimed to weave? Exam question 2 of lesson 274 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Emperor's New Clothes, part 1: a vain Emperor is fooled by two cheating weavers» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragm
---

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# Exam question 2 · Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Emperor's New Clothes, part 1:…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did the two impostors obtain the materials they claimed to weave?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** two impostors, impostors · **What happens:** mean, do, obtain, claim, weave · **To what, where:** materials

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 274 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Emperor's New Clothes, part 1: a vain Emperor is fooled by two cheating weavers» 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/274-pg1597-part1/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:274-pg1597-part1:e2:1
# text = By what means did the two impostors obtain the materials they claimed to weave?
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	impostors	impostor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	obtain	obtain	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	materials	material	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
11	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	claimed	claim	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	acl:relcl	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	weave	weave	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **do** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **obtain** | present | the two impostors | the materials |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset material=Theme |
| 4 | **claim** *speech: other* | past | impostors *= impostor* | the materials *not said here* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **weave** | to-infinitive | impostors *= impostor* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V»: agent=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 -->
by asking the Emperor for coins

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:274-pg1597-part1:e2:o1:1
# text = by asking the Emperor for coins
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	asking	ask	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Emperor	Emperor	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	coins	coin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | gerund |  |  | the Emperor |  |  | for coins | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent emperor=Recipient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by requesting silk and gold thread from the royal treasury at once

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:274-pg1597-part1:e2:o2:1
# text = by requesting silk and gold thread from the royal treasury at once
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	requesting	request	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	silk	silk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
5	gold	gold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	thread	thread	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	royal	royal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	treasury	treasury	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
11	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **request** | gerund |  | silk and gold thread |  | the royal treasury |  |  | vn beg-58.2 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent silk=Recipient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by demanding rare silk, pure gold thread, and a large workshop in the palace

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:274-pg1597-part1:e2:o3:1
# text = by demanding rare silk, pure gold thread, and a large workshop in the palace
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	demanding	demand	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	rare	rare	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	silk	silk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	pure	pure	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
7	gold	gold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	thread	thread	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	workshop	workshop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	palace	palace	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **demand** *speech: request* | gerund |  | rare silk and pure gold thread |  |  |  | a large workshop in the palace *obl* | vn require-103-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme silk=Precondition |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by requesting silk and gold thread

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:274-pg1597-part1:e2:o4:1
# text = by requesting silk and gold thread
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	requesting	request	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	silk	silk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
5	gold	gold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	thread	thread	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **request** | gerund |  | silk and gold thread |  |  |  |  | vn beg-58.2 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent silk=Recipient |

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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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- ← previous: [Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Emperor's…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/274-pg1597-part1/e1/)
- next →: [Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Emperor's…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/274-pg1597-part1/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Emperor's New Clothes, part 1: a vain Emperor is fooled by two cheating weavers](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/274-pg1597-part1/)