---
title: What is the most accurate account of the closing interchange between… — Uncle Remus, The Tar-Baby, part 2: Bre… · tree and pragmatics
description: What is the most accurate account of the closing interchange between the old man and the little boy? Exam question 4 of lesson 570 «Uncle Remus, The Tar-Baby, part 2: Brer Rabbit rides Brer Fox to Miss Meadows's and hitches him to the rack» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the depe
---

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# Exam question 4 · Uncle Remus, The Tar-Baby, part 2: Brer Rabbit rides Brer…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What is the most accurate account of the closing interchange between the old man and the little boy?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** accurate account · **What happens:** be, account · **To what, where:** closing interchange

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 570 «Uncle Remus, The Tar-Baby, part 2: Brer Rabbit rides Brer Fox to Miss Meadows's and hitches him to the rack» 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/570-pg2306-part6/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:570-pg2306-part6:e4:1
# text = What is the most accurate account of the closing interchange between the old man and the little boy?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	5	advmod	_	_
5	accurate	accurate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	account	account	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	closing	closing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	interchange	interchange	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
11	between	between	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the accurate account of the closing interchange between the old man and the little boy |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **account** |  |  | the closing interchange between the old man and the little boy |  |  |  |  | nom account «communication transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The old man declined to relate further matter, citing the excessive length of the cloth

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:570-pg2306-part6:e4:o1:1
# text = The old man declined to relate further matter, citing the excessive length of the cloth
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	declined	decline	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	relate	relate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	further	far	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	8	advmod	_	_
8	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	citing	cite	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	excessive	excessive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	length	length	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	cloth	cloth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **decline** | past | the old man |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **relate** | to-infinitive | the old man *not said here* | matter |  |  |  |  | vn relate-86.2-2 «NP V PP.co-theme»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **cite** | gerund | the old man *not said here* | the excessive length of the cloth |  |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent length=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The old man agreed to tell one more tale

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:570-pg2306-part6:e4:o2:1
# text = The old man agreed to tell one more tale
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	agreed	agree	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
8	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	9	amod	_	_
9	tale	tale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **agree** *speech: agree* | past | the old man |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the old man *not said here* | one more tale |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent tale=Recipient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The old man declined to relate any further matter because the tale's cloth was too excessive and long

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:570-pg2306-part6:e4:o3:1
# text = The old man declined to relate any further matter because the tale's cloth was too excessive and long
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	declined	decline	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	relate	relate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	9	det	_	_
8	further	further	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
10	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	tale	tale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	's	's	PART	POS	_	12	case	_	_
14	cloth	cloth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nsubj	_	_
15	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
16	too	too	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	excessive	excessive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	advcl	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
19	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **decline** | past | the old man |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **relate** | to-infinitive | the old man *not said here* | any matter |  |  |  |  | vn involve-107.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent matter=Theme |
| 3 | **is** | past | the tale's cloth |  |  |  |  | excessive *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **be** |  | the tale's cloth *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The old man kept telling tales until the boy fell asleep on the porch steps

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:570-pg2306-part6:e4:o4:1
# text = The old man kept telling tales until the boy fell asleep on the porch steps
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	kept	keep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	telling	tell	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	xcomp	_	_
6	tales	tale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
7	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	fell	fall	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
11	asleep	asleep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	xcomp	_	_
12	on	on	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	porch	porch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	compound	_	_
15	steps	step	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | past | the old man |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | gerund | the old man *not said here* | tales |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent tale=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 3 | **fall** | past | the boy |  |  |  |  | on the porch steps; asleep *property* | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme on step=Location |

<!-- 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: [Uncle Remus, The Tar-Baby, part 2: Bre…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/570-pg2306-part6/e3/)
- next →: [Uncle Remus, Fox Is "Outdone" by Mr. R…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/571-pg2306-part7/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Uncle Remus, The Tar-Baby, part 2: Brer Rabbit rides Brer Fox to Miss Meadows's and hitches him to the rack](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/570-pg2306-part6/)