---
title: Which of the following best characterises the moral conveyed by the… — Aesop for Children, The North Wind and… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following best characterises the moral conveyed by the fable? Exam question 2 of lesson 378 «Aesop for Children, The North Wind and the Sun: a cloak settles the quarrel» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each opt
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/378-pg19994-part17/e2/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/) / [Aesop for Children, The North Wind and…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/378-pg19994-part17/) / e2

# Exam question 2 · Aesop for Children, The North Wind and the Sun: a cloak se…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following best characterises the moral conveyed by the fable?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** best · **What happens:** follow, characteris, convey · **To what, where:** moral

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 378 «Aesop for Children, The North Wind and the Sun: a cloak settles the quarrel» 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/378-pg19994-part17/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:378-pg19994-part17:e2:1
# text = Which of the following best characterises the moral conveyed by the fable?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	obj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	case	_	_
5	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	6	nsubj	_	_
6	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	moral	moral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	conveyed	convey	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl	_	_
10	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	fable	fable	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present | the best | the moral |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **convey** | participle |  | the moral *not said here* |  |  |  | by the fable | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Winners are always the ones who speak softly, persuade gently, and never once raise their voices in a quarrel.

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:378-pg19994-part17:e2:o1:1
# text = Winners are always the ones who speak softly, persuade gently, and never once raise their voices in a quarrel.
1	Winners	winner	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	5	advmod	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	ones	one	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
6	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	speak	speak	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
8	softly	softly	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	persuade	persuade	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	conj	_	_
11	gently	gently	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
14	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	15	advmod	_	_
15	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	16	advmod	_	_
16	raise	raise	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
17	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	voices	voice	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obj	_	_
19	in	in	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	quarrel	quarrel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Winners | the ones |  |  |  | always *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **speak** *speech: other* | present | the ones |  |  |  |  | softly *property* | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **persuade** | infinitive | the ones *not said here* |  |  |  |  | gently *property* | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **raise** | infinitive |  | Winners's voices |  | a quarrel |  | once *property* | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent voice=Theme in quarrel=Destination |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Gentle persuasion always succeeds, but only when the coercion of the wind is never used against anyone at all.

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:378-pg19994-part17:e2:o2:1
# text = Gentle persuasion always succeeds, but only when the coercion of the wind is never used against anyone at all.
1	Gentle	gentle	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	persuasion	persuasion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	4	advmod	_	_
4	succeeds	succeed	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
6	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
7	only	only	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
8	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	16	mark	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	coercion	coercion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	wind	wind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux:pass	_	_
15	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	16	advmod	_	_
16	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	advcl	_	_
17	against	against	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	anyone	anyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	16	obl:agent	_	_
19	at	at	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	18	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **succeed** | present | Gentle persuasion |  |  |  |  | always *property* | vn succeed-74-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **not** **use** | present · passive | anyone | the coercion of the wind |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |
| 3 | **coerce** |  |  | the wind |  |  |  |  | nom coercion «act transitive»: of=patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Gentle persuasion succeeds where coercion fails.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:378-pg19994-part17:e2:o3:1
# text = Gentle persuasion succeeds where coercion fails.
1	Gentle	gentle	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	persuasion	persuasion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	succeeds	succeed	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	6	advmod	_	_
5	coercion	coercion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	fails	fail	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **succeed** | present | Gentle persuasion |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **fail** | present | coercion |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Kind influence wins where forceful pressure does not.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:378-pg19994-part17:e2:o4:1
# text = Kind influence wins where forceful pressure does not.
1	Kind	kind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	influence	influence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	wins	win	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	7	advmod	_	_
5	forceful	forceful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	pressure	pressure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **win** | present | Kind influence |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **not** **do** | present | forceful pressure |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- 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: [Aesop for Children, The North Wind and…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/378-pg19994-part17/e1/)
- next →: [Aesop for Children, The North Wind and…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/378-pg19994-part17/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Aesop for Children, The North Wind and the Sun: a cloak settles the quarrel](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/378-pg19994-part17/)