---
title: According to Uncle Remus, what did a spelling-book cause a laborer t… — Uncle Remus, The Florida Watermelon, p… · tree and pragmatics
description: According to Uncle Remus, what did a spelling-book cause a laborer to lose? Exam question 3 of lesson 598 «Uncle Remus, The Florida Watermelon, part 34: Remus warns a boy, tells of a stomach ache, and grumbles about schooling» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree an
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/598-pg2306-part34/e3/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[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, The Florida Watermelon, p…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/598-pg2306-part34/) / e3

# Exam question 3 · Uncle Remus, The Florida Watermelon, part 34: Remus warns…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
According to Uncle Remus, what did a spelling-book cause a laborer to lose?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Uncle Remus, laborer · **What happens:** accord, do, cause, lose · **To what, where:** spelling book, laborer

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 598 «Uncle Remus, The Florida Watermelon, part 34: Remus warns a boy, tells of a stomach ache, and grumbles about schooling» 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/598-pg2306-part34/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:598-pg2306-part34:e3:1
# text = According to Uncle Remus, what did a spelling-book cause a laborer to lose?
1	According	accord	VERB	VBG	ExtPos=ADP|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	case	_	_
2	to	to	ADP	IN	_	1	fixed	_	_
3	Uncle	Uncle	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	Remus	Remus	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	7	nsubj	_	_
7	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
9	spelling	spelling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
12	cause	cause	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	laborer	laborer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
16	lose	lose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **accord** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **do** | past | Uncle Remus | a spelling book |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent book=Eventuality |
| 3 | **cause** | present | Uncle Remus | a laborer |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **lose** | to-infinitive | a laborer *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
His value as a plow-hand

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:598-pg2306-part34:e3:o1:1
# text = His value as a plow-hand
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	value	value	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	plow	plow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **value** |  | His *= he* |  |  |  |  | as a plow hand | nom value «cognition transitive»: poss=agent as=obl |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His value and his good name in the whole county

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:598-pg2306-part34:e3:o2:1
# text = His value and his good name in the whole county
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	value	value	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
5	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	county	county	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **value** |  | His *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom value «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |
| 2 | **name** |  | his *= he* |  |  | the whole county |  |  | nom name «communication transitive»: poss=agent in=place |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His place in the field

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:598-pg2306-part34:e3:o3:1
# text = His place in the field
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	field	field	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His worth in the cotton crop

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:598-pg2306-part34:e3:o4:1
# text = His worth in the cotton crop
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	worth	worth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	cotton	cotton	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	crop	crop	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

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

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Uncle Remus, The Florida Watermelon, p…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/598-pg2306-part34/e2/)
- next →: [Uncle Remus, The Florida Watermelon, p…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/598-pg2306-part34/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Uncle Remus, The Florida Watermelon, part 34: Remus warns a boy, tells of a stomach ache, and grumbles about schooling](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/598-pg2306-part34/)