---
title: In the narrative, what pretext did the Wolf first advance for seizin… — Aesop's Fables, The Wolf and the Lamb:… · tree and pragmatics
description: In the narrative, what pretext did the Wolf first advance for seizing the Lamb? Exam question 1 of lesson 367 «Aesop's Fables, The Wolf and the Lamb: a Wolf invents excuses to eat a Lamb» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of eac
---

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# Exam question 1 · Aesop's Fables, The Wolf and the Lamb: a Wolf invents excu…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In the narrative, what pretext did the Wolf first advance for seizing the Lamb?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** seize · **To what, where:** Lamb, narrative

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This is exam question 1 of lesson 367 «Aesop's Fables, The Wolf and the Lamb: a Wolf invents excuses to eat a Lamb» 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/367-pg19994-part6/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:367-pg19994-part6:e1:1
# text = In the narrative, what pretext did the Wolf first advance for seizing the Lamb?
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	narrative	narrative	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	7	obj	_	_
6	pretext	pretext	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
9	Wolf	Wolf	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
10	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	11	amod	_	_
11	advance	advance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
12	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
13	seizing	seize	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	Lamb	Lamb	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **seize** | past · do-support |  | the Lamb |  | the narrative |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lamb=Theme |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That she was muddying his stream

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:367-pg19994-part6:e1:o1:1
# text = That she was muddying his stream
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
2	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	muddying	muddy	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	stream	stream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **muddy** | past · progressive | That | his stream |  |  |  |  | vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent stream=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Mud

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:367-pg19994-part6:e1:o2:1
# text = Mud
1	Mud	mud	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her lies

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:367-pg19994-part6:e1:o3:1
# text = Her lies
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	lies	lie	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lie** |  | Her *= she* |  |  |  |  |  | nom lie «communication intransitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That she was drinking his water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:367-pg19994-part6:e1:o4:1
# text = That she was drinking his water
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
2	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	drinking	drink	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drink** | past · progressive | That | his water |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent water=Patient |

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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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