---
title: Which instrument did Hermes compose from the shell of a tortoise? — Gods of Greece and Rome, Hermes the Th… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which instrument did Hermes compose from the shell of a tortoise? Exam question 4 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 pragmatics of the quest
---

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# Exam question 4 · Gods of Greece and Rome, Hermes the Thief: baby Hermes ste…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which instrument did Hermes compose from the shell of a tortoise?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** instrument · **What happens:** compose · **To what, where:** shell

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This is exam question 4 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/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:518-pg22381-part24:e4:1
# text = Which instrument did Hermes compose from the shell of a tortoise?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	instrument	instrument	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	Hermes	Hermes	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	compose	compose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	tortoise	tortoise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **compose** | past · do-support | which instrument |  |  | the shell of a tortoise |  |  | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP PP.material»: agent=Agent from shell=Material |

<!-- .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 -->
A lyre of twelve strings

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:518-pg22381-part24:e4:o1:1
# text = A lyre of twelve strings
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	lyre	lyre	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	twelve	twelve	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	strings	string	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A harp of nine strings

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:518-pg22381-part24:e4:o2:1
# text = A harp of nine strings
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	harp	harp	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	nine	nine	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	strings	string	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A lyre of seven strings

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:518-pg22381-part24:e4:o3:1
# text = A lyre of seven strings
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	lyre	lyre	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	seven	seven	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	strings	string	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A seven-stringed lyre built from a tortoise shell and cattle gut

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:518-pg22381-part24:e4:o4:1
# text = A seven-stringed lyre built from a tortoise shell and cattle gut
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
2	seven	seven	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	stringed	stringed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	lyre	lyre	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	built	build	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	tortoise	tortoise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	shell	shell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	cattle	cattle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	conj	_	_
13	gut	gut	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **build** | participle |  | a stringed lyre *not said here* |  | a tortoise shell and cattle and gut |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V PP»: agent=Asset from shell=Material |

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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 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/518-pg22381-part24/e3/)
- next →: [Myths of Greece and Rome, Dionysus, pa…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/520-pg22381-part26/t1/)
- ↑ 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/)