---
title: With reference to the fable of the Ass and His Driver, which action… — Aesop's Fables, The Ass and His Driver… · tree and pragmatics
description: With reference to the fable of the Ass and His Driver, which action did the owner perform in order to restrain the animal? Exam question 1 of lesson 404 «Aesop's Fables, The Ass and His Driver: a bolting ass is hauled back by the tail, and the fables that follow each end with a small lesson.» of the
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# Exam question 1 · Aesop's Fables, The Ass and His Driver: a bolting ass is h…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
With reference to the fable of the Ass and His Driver, which action did the owner perform in order to restrain the animal?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** action · **What happens:** do, perform, restrain · **To what, where:** owner, order, animal

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 404 «Aesop's Fables, The Ass and His Driver: a bolting ass is hauled back by the tail, and the fables that follow each end with a small lesson.» 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/404-pg21-part25/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:404-pg21-part25:e1:1
# text = With reference to the fable of the Ass and His Driver, which action did the owner perform in order to restrain the animal?
1	With	with	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	reference	reference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	fable	fable	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	Ass	ass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	Driver	driver	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	14	det	_	_
14	action	action	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
15	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	acl:relcl	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	owner	owner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
18	perform	perform	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
19	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
21	to	to	PART	TO	_	22	mark	_	_
22	restrain	restrain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	advcl	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	18	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past | which action | the owner |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent owner=Eventuality |
| 2 | **perform** | present |  |  |  | order |  | with reference to the fable of the Ass and His Driver | vn performance-26.7 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **restrain** | to-infinitive |  | the animal |  |  |  |  | vn discourage-64.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer animal=Eventuality |

<!-- .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 -->
He grabbed the animal by the tail as it ran toward the cliff edge.

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:404-pg21-part25:e1:o1:1
# text = He grabbed the animal by the tail as it ran toward the cliff edge.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	grabbed	grab	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	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	ran	run	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
11	toward	toward	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	cliff	cliff	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
14	edge	edge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grab** | past | He | the animal |  |  |  | by the tail | vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent animal=Theme |
| 2 | **run** | past | animal |  |  | the cliff edge |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme toward edge=Trajectory |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He tied the animal to a post.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:404-pg21-part25:e1:o2:1
# text = He tied the animal to a post.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	tied	tie	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	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	post	post	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tie** | past | He | the animal |  |  |  | to a post | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent animal=Patient to post=Co-Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He seized the animal by the tail.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:404-pg21-part25:e1:o3:1
# text = He seized the animal by the tail.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	seized	seize	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	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He whipped the animal hard with a stick until it finally stopped moving forward.

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:404-pg21-part25:e1:o4:1
# text = He whipped the animal hard with a stick until it finally stopped moving forward.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	whipped	whip	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	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	hard	hard	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	2	advmod	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	stick	stick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
9	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
11	finally	finally	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	stopped	stop	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
13	moving	move	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	12	xcomp	_	_
14	forward	forward	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **whip** | past | He | the animal |  |  |  | with a stick; hard *property* | vn shake-22.3-1-1 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent animal=Patient with stick=Co-Patient |
| 2 | **stop** | past | animal |  |  |  |  | finally *property* | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **move forward** | gerund | animal *not said here* |  |  |  |  | forward *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- 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 -->

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- ← previous: [Aesop's Fables, The Ass and His Driver…, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/404-pg21-part25/t12/)
- next →: [Aesop's Fables, The Ass and His Driver…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/404-pg21-part25/e2/)
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