---
title: By what means did the boys defeat the pursuing wolves? — Peter Pan, Peter Pan, part 11: Hook pl… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did the boys defeat the pursuing wolves? Exam question 2 of lesson 320 «Peter Pan, Peter Pan, part 11: Hook plots a poisoned cake, and Tootles shoots Wendy» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's 
---

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# Exam question 2 · Peter Pan, Peter Pan, part 11: Hook plots a poisoned cake,…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did the boys defeat the pursuing wolves?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** boys · **What happens:** mean, do, defeat · **To what, where:** pursuing wolves

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 320 «Peter Pan, Peter Pan, part 11: Hook plots a poisoned cake, and Tootles shoots Wendy» 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/320-pg16-part11/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:320-pg16-part11:e2:1
# text = By what means did the boys defeat the pursuing wolves?
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	6	det	_	_
6	boys	boy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	defeat	defeat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	pursuing	pursuing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	wolves	wolf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	?	?	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 | **defeat** | present | the boys | the pursuing wolves |  |  |  |  | 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by throwing sticks at them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:320-pg16-part11:e2:o1:1
# text = by throwing sticks at them
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	throwing	throw	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	sticks	stick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **throw** | gerund |  | sticks |  |  |  | at sticks *= stick* | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent stick=Theme at they=Destination |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by standing back to back with their swords raised

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:320-pg16-part11:e2:o2:1
# text = by standing back to back with their swords raised
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	standing	stand	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	back	back	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	back	back	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	swords	sword	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
9	raised	raise	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand back** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | to back; with their swords | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **raise** | participle |  | their swords *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by hiding inside the chimney until the wolves tired and left

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:320-pg16-part11:e2:o3:1
# text = by hiding inside the chimney until the wolves tired and left
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	hiding	hide	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	inside	inside	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	chimney	chimney	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	wolves	wolf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	tired	tired	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	advcl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	left	leave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hide** | gerund |  |  |  | the chimney |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent inside chimney=Location |
| 2 | **leave** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
by looking through their legs

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:320-pg16-part11:e2:o4:1
# text = by looking through their legs
1	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	through	through	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | through their legs | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent through leg=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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- ← previous: [Peter Pan, Peter Pan, part 11: Hook pl…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/320-pg16-part11/e1/)
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