---
title: Which phrase best characterises the Ass's state of mind upon returni… — Aesop's Fables, The Ass and the Lapdog… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which phrase best characterises the Ass's state of mind upon returning to his stall? Exam question 2 of lesson 387 «Aesop's Fables, The Ass and the Lapdog, part 8: a jealous donkey copies a pampered lapdog and gets beaten» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pr
---

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# Exam question 2 · Aesop's Fables, The Ass and the Lapdog, part 8: a jealous…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which phrase best characterises the Ass's state of mind upon returning to his stall?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** phrase · **What happens:** characteris, return · **To what, where:** state

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 387 «Aesop's Fables, The Ass and the Lapdog, part 8: a jealous donkey copies a pampered lapdog and gets beaten» 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/387-pg21-part8/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:387-pg21-part8:e2:1
# text = Which phrase best characterises the Ass's state of mind upon returning to his stall?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	phrase	phrase	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	best	well	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	4	advmod	_	_
4	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Ass	Ass	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	state	state	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	mind	mind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
11	upon	upon	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
12	returning	return	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
13	to	to	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	stall	stall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **characteris** | present | which phrase | the Ass's state of mind |  |  |  | well *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **return** | gerund | which phrase *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to phrase's stall *result* | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to stall=Result |

<!-- .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 -->
feeling proud and content

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:387-pg21-part8:e2:o1:1
# text = feeling proud and content
1	feeling	feel	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	proud	proud	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	xcomp	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	content	content	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **feel** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | proud *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
cursing the servants and wishing to be lazy again

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:387-pg21-part8:e2:o2:1
# text = cursing the servants and wishing to be lazy again
1	cursing	curse	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	servants	servant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	wishing	wish	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	cop	_	_
8	lazy	lazy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	xcomp	_	_
9	again	again	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **curse** | gerund |  | the servants |  |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent servant=Theme |
| 2 | **wish** | gerund |  |  |  |  | again |  | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |
| 3 | **is** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | lazy *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
rejoicing in his new fate

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:387-pg21-part8:e2:o3:1
# text = rejoicing in his new fate
1	rejoicing	rejoice	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
4	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	fate	fate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rejoice** | gerund |  |  |  | his new fate |  |  | vn marvel-31.3 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **fate** |  | his *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom fate «event transitive»: poss=agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
lamenting his own folly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:387-pg21-part8:e2:o4:1
# text = lamenting his own folly
1	lamenting	lament	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
3	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	folly	folly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lament** | gerund |  | his own folly |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer folly=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.

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- ← previous: [Aesop's Fables, The Ass and the Lapdog…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/387-pg21-part8/e1/)
- next →: [Aesop's Fables, The Ass and the Lapdog…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/387-pg21-part8/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Aesop's Fables, The Ass and the Lapdog, part 8: a jealous donkey copies a pampered lapdog and gets beaten](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/387-pg21-part8/)