--- title: By what means did Brer Rabbit cause Brer Fox to abandon his pursuit? — Uncle Remus, Brer Rabbit and the Chimn… · tree and pragmatics description: By what means did Brer Rabbit cause Brer Fox to abandon his pursuit? Exam question 1 of lesson 573 «Uncle Remus, Brer Rabbit and the Chimney, part 9: Brer Rabbit tricks Brer Fox out of the chimney, and Brer Wolf makes a plan» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/573-pg2306-part9/e1/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/) / [Uncle Remus, Brer Rabbit and the Chimn…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/573-pg2306-part9/) / e1 # Exam question 1 · Uncle Remus, Brer Rabbit and the Chimney, part 9: Brer Rab… By what means did Brer Rabbit cause Brer Fox to abandon his pursuit? **Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Fox · **What happens:** mean, do, abandon, pursue · **To what, where:** Brer Rabbit, pursuit · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is exam question 1 of lesson 573 «Uncle Remus, Brer Rabbit and the Chimney, part 9: Brer Rabbit tricks Brer Fox out of the chimney, and Brer Wolf makes a plan» 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/573-pg2306-part9/#e1). ## The question {#question} ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:573-pg2306-part9:e1:1 # text = By what means did Brer Rabbit cause Brer Fox to abandon his pursuit? 1 By by SCONJ IN _ 3 mark _ _ 2 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 3 nsubj _ _ 3 means mean VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 did do VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 ccomp _ _ 5 Brer Brer PROPN NNP Number=Sing 6 compound _ _ 6 Rabbit Rabbit PROPN NNP Number=Sing 4 obj _ _ 7 cause cause SCONJ IN _ 9 case _ _ 8 Brer Brer PROPN NNP Number=Sing 9 compound _ _ 9 Fox fox NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obl _ _ 10 to to PART TO _ 11 mark _ _ 11 abandon abandon VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 advcl _ _ 12 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 13 nmod:poss _ _ 13 pursuit pursuit NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 14 ? ? PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` | # | 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 clause=Topic | | 2 | **do** | past | | Brer Rabbit | | | | cause Brer Fox | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rabbit=Eventuality | | 3 | **abandon** | to-infinitive | | Fox's pursuit | | | | | vn leave-51.2 «NP V NP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme pursuit=Source | | 4 | **pursue** | | Fox | | | | | | nom pursuit «act transitive»: poss=agent | 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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1} by spitting tobacco juice into his eyes ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:573-pg2306-part9:e1:o1:1 # text = by spitting tobacco juice into his eyes 1 by by SCONJ IN _ 2 mark _ _ 2 spitting spit VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 3 tobacco tobacco NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 compound _ _ 4 juice juice NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obj _ _ 5 into into ADP IN _ 7 case _ _ 6 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 7 nmod:poss _ _ 7 eyes eye NOUN NNS Number=Plur 2 obl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **spit** | gerund | | tobacco juice | | his eyes | | | vn breathe-40.1.2 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent juice=Theme | ### Option 2 {#o2} by throwing hot ashes at him ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:573-pg2306-part9:e1:o2:1 # text = by throwing hot ashes at him 1 by by SCONJ IN _ 2 mark _ _ 2 throwing throw VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 3 hot hot ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 4 amod _ _ 4 ashes ash NOUN NNS Number=Plur 2 obj _ _ 5 at at ADP IN _ 6 case _ _ 6 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 obl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **throw** | gerund | | hot ashes | | | | at him *= he* | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent ash=Theme at he=Destination | ### Option 3 {#o3} by spitting a mouthful of tobacco juice into both of his eyes ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:573-pg2306-part9:e1:o3:1 # text = by spitting a mouthful of tobacco juice into both of his eyes 1 by by SCONJ IN _ 2 mark _ _ 2 spitting spit VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 3 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 4 mouthful mouthful NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obj _ _ 5 of of ADP IN _ 7 case _ _ 6 tobacco tobacco NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 compound _ _ 7 juice juice NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nmod _ _ 8 into into ADP IN _ 9 case _ _ 9 both both DET DT PronType=Tot 2 obl _ _ 10 of of ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 11 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 12 nmod:poss _ _ 12 eyes eye NOUN NNS Number=Plur 9 nmod _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **spit** | gerund | | a mouthful of tobacco juice | | both | | | vn breathe-40.1.2 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent mouthful=Theme | ### Option 4 {#o4} by spitting tobacco juice directly into his eyes ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:573-pg2306-part9:e1:o4:1 # text = by spitting tobacco juice directly into his eyes 1 by by SCONJ IN _ 2 mark _ _ 2 spitting spit VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 3 tobacco tobacco NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 compound _ _ 4 juice juice NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obj _ _ 5 directly directly ADV RB _ 2 advmod _ _ 6 into into ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 7 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 8 nmod:poss _ _ 8 eyes eye NOUN NNS Number=Plur 2 obl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **spit** | gerund | | tobacco juice | | his eyes | | directly *property* | vn breathe-40.1.2 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent juice=Theme | **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. - ← previous: [Uncle Remus, Brer Rabbit and the Chimn…, test 13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/573-pg2306-part9/t13/) - next →: [Uncle Remus, Brer Rabbit and the Chimn…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/573-pg2306-part9/e2/) - ↑ back to [Uncle Remus, Brer Rabbit and the Chimney, part 9: Brer Rabbit tricks Brer Fox out of the chimney, and Brer Wolf makes a plan](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/573-pg2306-part9/)