---
title: What was the principal consequence of the sparrow's conduct toward B… — Uncle Remus, The Fate of Mr. Fox: a ta… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the principal consequence of the sparrow's conduct toward Brer Fox? Exam question 2 of lesson 578 «Uncle Remus, The Fate of Mr. Fox: a tattling sparrow gets eaten» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova'
---

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# Exam question 2 · Uncle Remus, The Fate of Mr. Fox: a tattling sparrow gets…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the principal consequence of the sparrow's conduct toward Brer Fox?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** sparrow · **What happens:** be, conduct · **To what, where:** principal consequence

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 578 «Uncle Remus, The Fate of Mr. Fox: a tattling sparrow gets eaten» 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/578-pg2306-part14/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:578-pg2306-part14:e2:1
# text = What was the principal consequence of the sparrow's conduct toward Brer Fox?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	consequence	consequence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	sparrow	sparrow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	conduct	conduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
11	toward	toward	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	Brer	Brer	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	Fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the principal consequence |  |  |  | of the sparrow's conduct toward Brer Fox | tree rules |
| 2 | **conduct** |  | the sparrow |  |  |  |  | toward Brer Fox | nom conduct «act transitive»: poss=agent toward=obl |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The fox consumed the bird

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:578-pg2306-part14:e2:o1:1
# text = The fox consumed the bird
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	consumed	consume	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **consume** | past | the fox | the bird |  |  |  |  | vn consume-66 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bird=Asset |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The bird warned the rabbit

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:578-pg2306-part14:e2:o2:1
# text = The bird warned the rabbit
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	warned	warn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	rabbit	rabbit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **warn** *speech: warn* | past | the bird |  | the rabbit |  |  |  | vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent rabbit=Recipient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The bird flew off

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:578-pg2306-part14:e2:o3:1
# text = The bird flew off
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	flew	fly	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	off	off	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fly off** | past | the bird |  |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The fox lost his temper

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:578-pg2306-part14:e2:o4:1
# text = The fox lost his temper
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	lost	lose	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	temper	temper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | past | the fox | fox's temper |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent temper=Eventuality |
| 2 | **temper** |  | fox |  |  |  |  |  | nom temper «feeling transitive»: poss=agent |

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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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