---
title: What is the stated reason for the magpie surrendering his young ones… — Russian Fairy Tales, The Fox and His C… · tree and pragmatics
description: What is the stated reason for the magpie surrendering his young ones to the fox? Exam question 2 of lesson 700 «Russian Fairy Tales, The Fox and His Companions, part 40: the fox tricks the magpie and the crow, then meets a bear who needs a mourner» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with 
---

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# Exam question 2 · Russian Fairy Tales, The Fox and His Companions, part 40:…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What is the stated reason for the magpie surrendering his young ones to the fox?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** stated reason, magpie · **What happens:** be, state, surrender · **To what, where:** young ones, fox

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 700 «Russian Fairy Tales, The Fox and His Companions, part 40: the fox tricks the magpie and the crow, then meets a bear who needs a mourner» 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/700-pg2435-part40/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:700-pg2435-part40:e2:1
# text = What is the stated reason for the magpie surrendering his young ones to the fox?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	stated	state	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	amod	_	_
5	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	magpie	magpie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	surrendering	surrender	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	acl	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
11	young	young	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	ones	one	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
13	to	to	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the stated reason for the magpie |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **state** *speech: other* | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **surrender** | gerund | the magpie *not said here* | magpie's young ones | the fox |  |  |  | vn contribute-13.2-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent one=Theme to fox=Recipient |

<!-- .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 -->
Fear that the fox would starve in the snow and then turn on all the birds

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:700-pg2435-part40:e2:o1:1
# text = Fear that the fox would starve in the snow and then turn on all the birds
1	Fear	fear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
2	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	starve	starve	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	snow	snow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	12	advmod	_	_
12	turn	turn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	conj	_	_
13	on	on	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	16	det:predet	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **starve** | would | Fear |  |  | the snow |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **turn** | infinitive | Fear *not said here* |  |  |  | then | on all birds | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme on bird=Trajectory |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fear that the fox would cut down the nest tree

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:700-pg2435-part40:e2:o2:1
# text = Fear that the fox would cut down the nest tree
1	Fear	fear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	cut	cut	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	acl	_	_
7	down	down	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	nest	nest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut down** | would | the fox | the nest tree |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tree=Product |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Hope that the fox would spare the whole nest

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:700-pg2435-part40:e2:o3:1
# text = Hope that the fox would spare the whole nest
1	Hope	hope	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	spare	spare	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	ccomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	nest	nest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hope** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn long-32.2 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **spare** | would | the fox | the whole nest |  |  |  |  | vn bill-54.5 «NP V NP NP.asset»: agent=Agent nest=Asset |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fear that the crow would fly down and take his children away forever

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:700-pg2435-part40:e2:o4:1
# text = Fear that the crow would fly down and take his children away forever
1	Fear	fear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
2	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	crow	crow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	down	down	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	conj	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
12	away	away	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
13	forever	forever	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fly down** | would | Fear |  |  |  |  | down *property* | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **take away** | infinitive | Fear *not said here* | crow's children |  |  |  | away, forever *property* | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent child=Theme |

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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: [Russian Fairy Tales, The Fox and His C…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/700-pg2435-part40/e1/)
- next →: [Russian Fairy Tales, The Fox and His C…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/700-pg2435-part40/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Russian Fairy Tales, The Fox and His Companions, part 40: the fox tricks the magpie and the crow, then meets a bear who needs a mourner](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/700-pg2435-part40/)