---
title: By what means did Hermes ascertain whether the shepherd Battus could… — Gods of Greece and Rome, Hermes the Th… · tree and pragmatics
description: By what means did Hermes ascertain whether the shepherd Battus could be trusted? Exam question 2 of lesson 518 «Gods of Greece and Rome, Hermes the Thief: baby Hermes steals oxen and turns a greedy shepherd to stone» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmati
---

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# Exam question 2 · Gods of Greece and Rome, Hermes the Thief: baby Hermes ste…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By what means did Hermes ascertain whether the shepherd Battus could be trusted?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Hermes · **What happens:** mean, ascertain, trust · **To what, where:** shepherd

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 518 «Gods of Greece and Rome, Hermes the Thief: baby Hermes steals oxen and turns a greedy shepherd to stone» 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/518-pg22381-part24/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:518-pg22381-part24:e2:1
# text = By what means did Hermes ascertain whether the shepherd Battus could be trusted?
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	6	obl	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
4	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	Hermes	Hermes	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	shepherd	shepherd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	Battus	Battus	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	appos	_	_
11	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
12	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	trusted	trust	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **ascertain** | past · do-support | Hermes |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **trust** | could · passive |  | the shepherd |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
By disguising himself as a farmer and asking for help

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:518-pg22381-part24:e2:o1:1
# text = By disguising himself as a farmer and asking for help
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	disguising	disguise	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	2	obj	_	_
4	as	as	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	farmer	farmer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	asking	ask	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	help	help	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **disguise** | gerund |  | himself *= he* |  |  |  | as a farmer | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme himself=Destination |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | for help | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By a sacred oath

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:518-pg22381-part24:e2:o2:1
# text = By a sacred oath
1	By	by	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	sacred	sacred	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	oath	oath	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By assuming the likeness of Admetus and making an offer

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:518-pg22381-part24:e2:o3:1
# text = By assuming the likeness of Admetus and making an offer
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	assuming	assume	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	likeness	likeness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	Admetus	Admetus	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	making	make	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
9	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	offer	offer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **assume** | gerund |  | the likeness of Admetus |  |  |  |  | vn adopt-93.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent likeness=Theme |
| 2 | **make** | gerund |  | a offer |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset offer=Product |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By asking him directly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:518-pg22381-part24:e2:o4:1
# text = By asking him directly
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	asking	ask	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	directly	directly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | gerund |  |  | him *= he* |  |  | directly *property* | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |

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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: [Gods of Greece and Rome, Hermes the Th…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/518-pg22381-part24/e1/)
- next →: [Gods of Greece and Rome, Hermes the Th…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/518-pg22381-part24/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Gods of Greece and Rome, Hermes the Thief: baby Hermes steals oxen and turns a greedy shepherd to stone](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/518-pg22381-part24/)