---
title: Upon what object was the dragon's tail secured by the boy named Tom? — Nine Unlikely Tales, The Dragon of Rot… · tree and pragmatics
description: Upon what object was the dragon's tail secured by the boy named Tom? Exam question 1 of lesson 639 «Nine Unlikely Tales, The Dragon of Rotundia: the dragon is wound up on the pillar, the island spins, and everyone changes size» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree a
---

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# Exam question 1 · Nine Unlikely Tales, The Dragon of Rotundia: the dragon is…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Upon what object was the dragon's tail secured by the boy named Tom?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** object, boy · **What happens:** be, secure, name · **To what, where:** tail, Tom

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 639 «Nine Unlikely Tales, The Dragon of Rotundia: the dragon is wound up on the pillar, the island spins, and everyone changes size» 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/639-pg23661-part7/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:639-pg23661-part7:e1:1
# text = Upon what object was the dragon's tail secured by the boy named Tom?
1	Upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	3	obl	_	_
3	object	object	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	dragon	dragon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
9	secured	secure	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl	_	_
10	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl:agent	_	_
13	named	name	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	acl	_	_
14	Tom	Tom	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | object | the dragon's tail |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **secure** | participle |  | the dragon's tail *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **name** | participle | the boy *not said here* | Tom |  |  |  |  | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tom=Theme |

<!-- .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 rock

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:639-pg23661-part7:e1:o1:1
# text = the rock
1	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a tree

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:639-pg23661-part7:e1:o2:1
# text = a tree
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
the cliff

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:639-pg23661-part7:e1:o3:1
# text = the cliff
1	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cliff	cliff	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
the sea

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:639-pg23661-part7:e1:o4:1
# text = the sea
1	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

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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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- ← previous: [Nine Unlikely Tales, The Dragon of Rot…, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/639-pg23661-part7/t12/)
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