---
title: What is the attitude of the old man towards the children? — Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Elder-Tree… · tree and pragmatics
description: What is the attitude of the old man towards the children? Exam question 2 of lesson 295 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Elder-Tree Mother: an elder bush grows from a teapot and shows an old couple's golden day» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the
---

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# Exam question 2 · Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Elder-Tree Mother: an elder bu…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What is the attitude of the old man towards the children?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** attitude · **What happens:** be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 295 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Elder-Tree Mother: an elder bush grows from a teapot and shows an old couple's golden day» 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/295-pg1597-part22/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:295-pg1597-part22:e2:1
# text = What is the attitude of the old man towards the children?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	attitude	attitude	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
9	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the attitude of the old man towards the children |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He is fond of them and knows many fairy tales

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:295-pg1597-part22:e2:o1:1
# text = He is fond of them and knows many fairy tales
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	fond	fond	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obl	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	knows	know	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
8	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
9	fairy	fairy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	tales	tale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | of them *= they*; fond *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **know** | present | He *not said here* | many fairy tales |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer tale=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He scolds them for playing loudly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:295-pg1597-part22:e2:o2:1
# text = He scolds them for playing loudly
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	scolds	scold	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	playing	play	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
6	loudly	loudly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **scold** | present | He | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |
| 2 | **play** | gerund | He *not said here* |  |  |  |  | loudly *property* | vn performance-26.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He is strict and sends them to bed early and never tells any stories

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:295-pg1597-part22:e2:o3:1
# text = He is strict and sends them to bed early and never tells any stories
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	strict	strict	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	sends	send	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
6	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	bed	bed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	early	early	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	5	advmod	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
12	tells	tell	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
13	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	14	det	_	_
14	stories	story	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | strict *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **send** | present | He *not said here* | them *= they* |  | bed |  | early *property* | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent they=Theme to bed=Destination |
| 3 | **not** **tell** *speech: assert* | present | He *not said here* | any stories |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent story=Recipient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He dislikes them and keeps the door locked so they cannot come up the stairs

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:295-pg1597-part22:e2:o4:1
# text = He dislikes them and keeps the door locked so they cannot come up the stairs
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	dislikes	dislike	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	keeps	keep	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	door	door	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	locked	lock	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
9	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
11	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
14	up	up	ADP	RP	_	13	compound:prt	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	stairs	stair	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dislike** | present | He | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer they=Stimulus |
| 2 | **keep** | present | He *not said here* | the door |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent door=Theme |
| 3 | **lock** | participle |  | the door *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn tape-22.4 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 4 | **not** **come up** | can | they | the stairs |  |  |  |  | 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.

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