---
title: What was the principal reason the Country Mouse returned to her home? — Aesop for Children, The Town Mouse and… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the principal reason the Country Mouse returned to her home? Exam question 2 of lesson 363 «Aesop for Children, The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse: a country mouse visits her city cousin and flees a cat and dog» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pr
---

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# Exam question 2 · Aesop for Children, The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse:…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the principal reason the Country Mouse returned to her home?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Country Mouse · **What happens:** be, return · **To what, where:** principal reason, home

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 363 «Aesop for Children, The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse: a country mouse visits her city cousin and flees a cat and dog» 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/363-pg19994-part2/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:363-pg19994-part2:e2:1
# text = What was the principal reason the Country Mouse returned to her home?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	Country	Country	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	Mouse	Mouse	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	returned	return	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **return** | past | the Country Mouse | the principal reason *not said here* |  | Mouse's home |  |  | vn send-11.1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent reason=Theme to home=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 -->
She found the city dangerous, and she preferred the safe and quiet life of her own country home.

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:363-pg19994-part2:e2:o1:1
# text = She found the city dangerous, and she preferred the safe and quiet life of her own country home.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	found	find	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	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	dangerous	dangerous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	preferred	prefer	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
11	safe	safe	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	quiet	quiet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	conj	_	_
14	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
17	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	country	country	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	_
19	home	home	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **find** | past | She | the city |  |  |  | dangerous *property* | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent city=Topic |
| 2 | **prefer** | past | she | the safe life of her own country |  |  |  | home *property* | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer life=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She wanted peace over fancy food.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:363-pg19994-part2:e2:o2:1
# text = She wanted peace over fancy food.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	peace	peace	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	over	over	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	fancy	fancy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | past | She | peace |  | fancy food |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot peace=Theme |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She preferred security to luxury.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:363-pg19994-part2:e2:o3:1
# text = She preferred security to luxury.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	preferred	prefer	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	security	security	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	luxury	luxury	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prefer** | past | She | security |  |  |  | to luxury | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer security=Stimulus |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She was frightened by the Cat, so she wanted to escape the noisy and dangerous luxury of the mansion.

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:363-pg19994-part2:e2:o4:1
# text = She was frightened by the Cat, so she wanted to escape the noisy and dangerous luxury of the mansion.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	frightened	frighten	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
9	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	escape	escape	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
14	noisy	noisy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	dangerous	dangerous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	conj	_	_
17	luxury	luxury	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	mansion	mansion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **frighten** | past · passive | the Cat | She |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus subject=Experiencer |
| 2 | **want** | past | Cat |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 3 | **escape** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Cat *not said here* | the noisy luxury of the mansion |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme luxury=Initial\_Location |

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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: [Aesop for Children, The Town Mouse and…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/363-pg19994-part2/e1/)
- next →: [Aesop for Children, The Town Mouse and…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/363-pg19994-part2/e3/)
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