---
title: Pray state by what means the Scottish party gained entry to the cast… — Book of Tales (pg18442), The Black Dou… · tree and pragmatics
description: Pray state by what means the Scottish party gained entry to the castle. Exam question 1 of lesson 345 «Book of Tales (pg18442), The Black Douglas: a castle won back at dusk» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova
---

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# Exam question 1 · Book of Tales (pg18442), The Black Douglas: a castle won b…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pray state by what means the Scottish party gained entry to the castle.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, Scottish party · **What happens:** pray, mean, gain · **To what, where:** state, entry · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is exam question 1 of lesson 345 «Book of Tales (pg18442), The Black Douglas: a castle won back at dusk» 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/345-pg18442-part5/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:345-pg18442-part5:e1:1
# text = Pray state by what means the Scottish party gained entry to the castle.
1	Pray	pray	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	state	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
3	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
4	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	_
5	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	advcl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	Scottish	Scottish	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	party	party	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	gained	gain	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
10	entry	entry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	castle	castle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pray** | imperative | you *not said here* | state |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **gain** | past | the Scottish party | entry |  |  |  | to the castle *result* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.patient V NP.extent PP.source PP.goal»: agent=Patient entry=Extent to castle=Result |

<!-- .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 climbing a rope ladder

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:345-pg18442-part5:e1:o1:1
# text = By climbing a rope ladder
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	climbing	climb	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	rope	rope	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	ladder	ladder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **climb** | gerund |  | a rope ladder |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Initial\_Location ladder=Theme |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By ascending ladders placed against the outer wall

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:345-pg18442-part5:e1:o2:1
# text = By ascending ladders placed against the outer wall
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	ascending	ascend	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
3	ladders	ladder	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	placed	place	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	against	against	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	outer	outer	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascend** | gerund |  | ladders |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme ladder=Trajectory |
| 2 | **place** | participle |  |  |  | the outer wall |  |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent against wall=Destination |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Through a breach made by the cannon fire

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:345-pg18442-part5:e1:o3:1
# text = Through a breach made by the cannon fire
1	Through	through	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	breach	breach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	cannon	cannon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | participle |  | a breach *not said here* |  |  |  | by the cannon fire | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By scaling a ladder set against the wall

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:345-pg18442-part5:e1:o4:1
# text = By scaling a ladder set against the wall
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	scaling	scale	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	ladder	ladder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	set	set	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	against	against	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **scale** | gerund |  | a ladder set |  |  |  | against the wall | vn pit-10.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent set=Source |

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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: [Book of Tales (pg18442), The Black Dou…, test 13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/345-pg18442-part5/t13/)
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