---
title: What was the principal reason the other seals gave for failing to sy… — The Jungle Book, The White Seal, part… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the principal reason the other seals gave for failing to sympathize with Kotick? Exam question 2 of lesson 618 «The Jungle Book, The White Seal, part 19: Kotick mocks Sea Vitch, then searches the seas for a quiet island and finds men had been there first» of the books course of Mova's prima
---

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# Exam question 2 · The Jungle Book, The White Seal, part 19: Kotick mocks Sea…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the principal reason the other seals gave for failing to sympathize with Kotick?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** other seals · **What happens:** be, give, fail, not sympathize · **To what, where:** principal reason

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 618 «The Jungle Book, The White Seal, part 19: Kotick mocks Sea Vitch, then searches the seas for a quiet island and finds men had been there first» 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/618-pg236-part19/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:618-pg236-part19:e2:1
# text = What was the principal reason the other seals gave for failing to sympathize with Kotick?
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	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	seals	seal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
10	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
11	failing	fail	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	advcl	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	sympathize	sympathize	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	xcomp	_	_
14	with	with	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	Kotick	Kotick	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **give** | past | the other seals | the principal reason *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 3 | **fail** | gerund | the other seals *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 4 | **not** **sympathize** | to-infinitive | the other seals *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with Kotick | vn empathize-88.2 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer with kotick=Stimulus |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That they were all too young to fight the men then, and had no say in it.

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:618-pg236-part19:e2:o1:1
# text = That they were all too young to fight the men then, and had no say in it.
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	6	nsubj	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	all	all	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	too	too	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	young	young	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	fight	fight	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	advcl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
11	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	8	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
15	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	16	det	_	_
16	say	say	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
17	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | That |  |  |  |  | all, young *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **fight** | to-infinitive | That *not said here* | the men |  |  | then |  | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent man=Co-Agent |
| 3 | **have** | past |  | no say |  | say |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent say=Patient |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That none of them had witnessed the killing, which distinguished Kotick from his companions.

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:618-pg236-part19:e2:o2:1
# text = That none of them had witnessed the killing, which distinguished Kotick from his companions.
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	none	none	PRON	NN	PronType=Neg	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nmod	_	_
5	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	witnessed	witness	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	killing	killing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	nsubj	_	_
11	distinguished	distinguish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
12	Kotick	Kotick	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
13	from	from	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	companions	companion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **witness** | past · perfect · passive |  | none |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **distinguish** | past | the killing | Kotick |  |  |  | from Kotick's companions | vn distinguish-23.5-1 «NP V NP.theme PP.co-theme»: agent=Agent kotick=Theme from companion=Co-Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were all asleep at the time.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:618-pg236-part19:e2:o3:1
# text = They were all asleep at the time.
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	all	all	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	asleep	asleep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | They |  |  |  | time | all, asleep *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Kotick was too loud for them.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:618-pg236-part19:e2:o4:1
# text = Kotick was too loud for them.
1	Kotick	Kotick	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	too	too	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	loud	loud	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Kotick |  |  |  |  | for them *= they*; loud *property* | tree rules |

<!-- 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: [The Jungle Book, The White Seal, part…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/618-pg236-part19/e1/)
- next →: [The Jungle Book, The White Seal, part…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/618-pg236-part19/e3/)
- ↑ back to [The Jungle Book, The White Seal, part 19: Kotick mocks Sea Vitch, then searches the seas for a quiet island and finds men had been there first](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/618-pg236-part19/)