---
title: What did the Farmer's sling lack, and why did the Cranes remain unha… — Aesop's Fables, The Fox and the Cock,… · tree and pragmatics
description: What did the Farmer's sling lack, and why did the Cranes remain unharmed? Exam question 4 of lesson 370 «Aesop's Fables, The Fox and the Cock, part 9: the Fox runs off, the Cock wins, and more beast tales follow» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics o
---

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# Exam question 4 · Aesop's Fables, The Fox and the Cock, part 9: the Fox runs…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What did the Farmer's sling lack, and why did the Cranes remain unharmed?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Cranes, Farmer · **What happens:** do, remain, lack · **To what, where:** sling lack

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 370 «Aesop's Fables, The Fox and the Cock, part 9: the Fox runs off, the Cock wins, and more beast tales follow» 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/370-pg19994-part9/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:370-pg19994-part9:e4:1
# text = What did the Farmer's sling lack, and why did the Cranes remain unharmed?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	nsubj	_	_
2	did	do	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	Farmer	Farmer	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	sling	sling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	lack	lack	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
10	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	14	advmod	_	_
11	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	Cranes	Crane	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	14	nsubj	_	_
14	remain	remain	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
15	unharmed	unharmed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past |  | the Farmer's sling lack |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lack=Eventuality |
| 2 | **remain** | present | the Cranes |  |  |  |  | unharmed *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **lack** |  | the Farmer |  |  |  |  |  | nom lack «state 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It lacked stones entirely, and the Cranes perceived no harm at all from the swing

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:370-pg19994-part9:e4:o1:1
# text = It lacked stones entirely, and the Cranes perceived no harm at all from the swing
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	lacked	lack	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	stones	stone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	Cranes	Crane	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	perceived	perceive	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	11	det	_	_
11	harm	harm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	at	at	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	obl	_	_
14	from	from	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	swing	swing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lack** | past | It | stones |  |  |  | entirely *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **perceive** | past | the Cranes | no harm |  | all |  | from the swing | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer harm=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It lacked a stone, so the Cranes felt no harm

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:370-pg19994-part9:e4:o2:1
# text = It lacked a stone, so the Cranes felt no harm
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	lacked	lack	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	Cranes	Crane	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	felt	feel	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	11	det	_	_
11	harm	harm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lack** | past | It | a stone |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **feel** | past | the Cranes | no harm |  |  |  |  | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent harm=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It had no stones, and the Cranes saw no harm

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:370-pg19994-part9:e4:o3:1
# text = It had no stones, and the Cranes saw no harm
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	stones	stone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	Cranes	Crane	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	11	det	_	_
11	harm	harm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | It | no stones |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stone=Patient |
| 2 | **see** | past | the Cranes | no harm |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer harm=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It lacked stones, and the Cranes perceived no harm

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:370-pg19994-part9:e4:o4:1
# text = It lacked stones, and the Cranes perceived no harm
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	lacked	lack	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	stones	stone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	Cranes	Crane	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	perceived	perceive	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
9	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	10	det	_	_
10	harm	harm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lack** | past | It | stones |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **perceive** | past | the Cranes | no harm |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer harm=Stimulus |

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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: [Aesop's Fables, The Fox and the Cock,…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/370-pg19994-part9/e3/)
- next →: [Aesop for Children, The Cat and the Bi…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/371-pg19994-part10/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Aesop's Fables, The Fox and the Cock, part 9: the Fox runs off, the Cock wins, and more beast tales follow](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/370-pg19994-part9/)