---
title: Pray state the reason the watchman dismissed the woman's concern. — Book of Tales (pg18442), The Black Dou… · tree and pragmatics
description: Pray state the reason the watchman dismissed the woman's concern. Exam question 2 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's cho
---

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# Exam question 2 · Book of Tales (pg18442), The Black Douglas: a castle won b…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pray state the reason the watchman dismissed the woman's concern.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Pray, watchman, woman · **What happens:** state, dismiss, concern · **To what, where:** reason, concern

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 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/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:345-pg18442-part5:e2:1
# text = Pray state the reason the watchman dismissed the woman's concern.
1	Pray	Pray	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	state	state	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	watchman	watchman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	dismissed	dismiss	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	concern	concern	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **state** *speech: other* | past | Pray | the reason |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **dismiss** | past | the watchman | the woman's concern |  |  |  |  | vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent concern=Theme |
| 3 | **concern** |  | the woman |  |  |  |  |  | nom concern «cognition transitive»: poss=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 -->
He believed the figures were only shepherds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:345-pg18442-part5:e2:o1:1
# text = He believed the figures were only shepherds
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	believed	believe	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	figures	figure	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	shepherds	shepherd	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **believe** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is a** | past | the figures | shepherds |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He assumed the shapes were merely horses

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:345-pg18442-part5:e2:o2:1
# text = He assumed the shapes were merely horses
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	assumed	assume	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	shapes	shape	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	merely	merely	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	horses	horse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **assume** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn adopt-93.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | past | the shapes | horses |  |  |  | merely *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He thought the shapes were simply the farmer's cattle returning from the pasture at dusk

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:345-pg18442-part5:e2:o3:1
# text = He thought the shapes were simply the farmer's cattle returning from the pasture at dusk
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	thought	think	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	shapes	shape	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
6	simply	simply	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	farmer	farmer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	cattle	cattle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	ccomp	_	_
11	returning	return	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	acl	_	_
12	from	from	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	pasture	pasture	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
15	at	at	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	dusk	dusk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | past | the shapes | the farmer's cattle |  |  |  | simply *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **return** | gerund | the farmer's cattle *not said here* |  |  | the pasture | dusk |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from pasture=Initial\_Location |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He judged the approaching figures to be cattle

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:345-pg18442-part5:e2:o4:1
# text = He judged the approaching figures to be cattle
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	judged	judge	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	approaching	approach	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	figures	figure	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	cop	_	_
8	cattle	cattle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **judge** | past | He | the approaching figures |  |  |  |  | vn estimate-34.2-1-1 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Agent figure=Value |
| 2 | **approach** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **is a** | to-infinitive | He *not said here* | cattle |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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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