---
title: What action did Ralph the Rover take in relation to the buoy and its… — Book of Tales, The Inchcape Rock: Ralp… · tree and pragmatics
description: What action did Ralph the Rover take in relation to the buoy and its bell? Exam question 2 of lesson 357 «Book of Tales, The Inchcape Rock: Ralph the Rover cuts the abbot's buoy bell and his own ship is wrecked on the rock» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and p
---

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# Exam question 2 · Book of Tales, The Inchcape Rock: Ralph the Rover cuts the…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What action did Ralph the Rover take in relation to the buoy and its bell?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** action, Ralph · **What happens:** do, take in · **To what, where:** relation, buoy

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 357 «Book of Tales, The Inchcape Rock: Ralph the Rover cuts the abbot's buoy bell and his own ship is wrecked on the rock» 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/357-pg18442-part17/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:357-pg18442-part17:e2:1
# text = What action did Ralph the Rover take in relation to the buoy and its bell?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	obj	_	_
2	action	action	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	Ralph	Ralph	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Rover	Rover	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	appos	_	_
7	take	take	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	RP	_	7	compound:prt	_	_
9	relation	relation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	buoy	buoy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	bell	bell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past | action |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **take in** | present | Ralph | relation |  | the buoy and action's bell |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent relation=Theme to buoy=Destination |

<!-- .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 cut the chain and fastenings of the bell and then threw the whole buoy into the sea.

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:357-pg18442-part17:e2:o1:1
# text = He cut the chain and fastenings of the bell and then threw the whole buoy into the sea.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	cut	cut	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	chain	chain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	fastenings	fastening	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	conj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	bell	bell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	12	advmod	_	_
12	threw	throw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	buoy	buoy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
16	into	into	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut** | past | He | the chain and fastenings of the bell |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent chain=Product |
| 2 | **throw** | past | He *not said here* | the whole buoy |  |  | then | into the sea *result* | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.result»: agent=Causer buoy=Theme into sea=Result |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He stole the bell and sailed away with the buoy.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:357-pg18442-part17:e2:o2:1
# text = He stole the bell and sailed away with the buoy.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	stole	steal	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	bell	bell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	sailed	sail	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
7	away	away	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	buoy	buoy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **steal** | past | He | the bell |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location bell=Theme |
| 2 | **sail away** | past | He *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with the buoy; away *property* | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2-1 «NP.agent V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He cut the bell free and rang it on his ship.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:357-pg18442-part17:e2:o3:1
# text = He cut the bell free and rang it on his ship.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	cut	cut	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	bell	bell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	free	free	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	rang	ring	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	on	on	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	ship	ship	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut** | past | He | the bell |  |  |  | free *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bell=Product |
| 2 | **ring** | past | He *not said here* | bell |  | his ship |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location it=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He broke the chain and cut the fastenings of the bell.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:357-pg18442-part17:e2:o4:1
# text = He broke the chain and cut the fastenings of the bell.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	broke	break	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	chain	chain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	cut	cut	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	conj	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	fastenings	fastening	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	bell	bell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **break** | past | He | the chain |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer chain=Patient |
| 2 | **cut** | infinitive | He *not said here* | the fastenings of the bell |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset fastening=Product |

<!-- div src -->

**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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Book of Tales, The Inchcape Rock: Ralp…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/357-pg18442-part17/e1/)
- next →: [Book of Tales, The Inchcape Rock: Ralp…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/357-pg18442-part17/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Book of Tales, The Inchcape Rock: Ralph the Rover cuts the abbot's buoy bell and his own ship is wrecked on the rock](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/357-pg18442-part17/)