---
title: In what manner did the Ass attempt to win his Master's favour? — Aesop's Fables, The Miser, part 1: a M… · tree and pragmatics
description: In what manner did the Ass attempt to win his Master's favour? Exam question 4 of lesson 373 «Aesop's Fables, The Miser, part 1: a Miser's buried gold is stolen, and a stranger gives strange advice» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question
---

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# Exam question 4 · Aesop's Fables, The Miser, part 1: a Miser's buried gold i…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In what manner did the Ass attempt to win his Master's favour?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** his · **What happens:** do, win, favour · **To what, where:** Ass attempt, manner, favour

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 373 «Aesop's Fables, The Miser, part 1: a Miser's buried gold is stolen, and a stranger gives strange advice» 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/373-pg19994-part12/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:373-pg19994-part12:e4:1
# text = In what manner did the Ass attempt to win his Master's favour?
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	what	what	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	3	det	_	_
3	manner	manner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
4	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	Ass	Ass	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	attempt	attempt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	win	win	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	acl	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
11	Master	Master	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	's	's	PART	POS	_	11	case	_	_
13	favour	favour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past |  | the Ass attempt |  | what manner |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent attempt=Eventuality |
| 2 | **win** | to-infinitive |  | his favour |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent favour=Eventuality |
| 3 | **favour** |  | his *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom favour «feeling 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 -->
By imitating the conduct of the Lap Dog and fawning all over his Master at dinner

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:373-pg19994-part12:e4:o1:1
# text = By imitating the conduct of the Lap Dog and fawning all over his Master at dinner
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	imitating	imitate	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	Lap	Lap	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	Dog	Dog	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	fawning	fawn	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
11	all	all	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
12	over	over	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	Master	master	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
15	at	at	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	dinner	dinner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **imitate** | gerund |  | the conduct of the Lap Dog |  |  |  |  | vn patent-101 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent conduct=Theme |
| 2 | **fawn** | gerund |  | Dog's Master |  | dinner |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **conduct** |  |  | the Lap Dog |  |  |  |  | nom conduct «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By imitating the conduct of the Lap Dog

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:373-pg19994-part12:e4:o2:1
# text = By imitating the conduct of the Lap Dog
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	imitating	imitate	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	Lap	Lap	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	Dog	Dog	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **imitate** | gerund |  | the conduct of the Lap Dog |  |  |  |  | vn patent-101 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent conduct=Theme |
| 2 | **conduct** |  |  | the Lap Dog |  |  |  |  | nom conduct «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By begging like the Shepherd's Dog

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:373-pg19994-part12:e4:o3:1
# text = By begging like the Shepherd's Dog
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	begging	beg	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	like	like	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Shepherd	shepherd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	Dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **beg** *speech: request* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | like the Shepherd's Dog | vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V PP.Topic»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By trying to imitate the conduct of the Lap Dog who sat by the fire every night

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:373-pg19994-part12:e4:o4:1
# text = By trying to imitate the conduct of the Lap Dog who sat by the fire every night
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	trying	try	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	imitate	imitate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	Lap	Lap	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	Dog	Dog	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
11	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	12	nsubj	_	_
12	sat	sit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
13	by	by	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
16	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	17	det	_	_
17	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **imitate** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  | the conduct of the Lap Dog |  |  |  |  | vn patent-101 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent conduct=Theme |
| 3 | **sit** | past | the conduct of the Lap Dog |  |  |  | night | by the fire | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent by fire=Location |
| 4 | **conduct** |  |  | the Lap Dog |  |  |  |  | nom conduct «act transitive»: of=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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- ← previous: [Aesop's Fables, The Miser, part 1: a M…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/373-pg19994-part12/e3/)
- next →: [Aesop's Fables, The Wolf and the House…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/374-pg19994-part13/t1/)
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