---
title: Which statement most accurately identifies the agent by whom the poi… — Household Tales, The Two Friends: a ki… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which statement most accurately identifies the agent by whom the poisoning of the friend was instigated? Exam question 2 of lesson 722 «Household Tales, The Two Friends: a king's poison fails, a friend is revived, and a saint asks for a baby's blood» of the books course of Mova's primary school, wit
---

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# Exam question 2 · Household Tales, The Two Friends: a king's poison fails, a…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which statement most accurately identifies the agent by whom the poisoning of the friend was instigated?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** statement · **What happens:** identify, instigate, poison · **To what, where:** agent, poisoning, friend

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 722 «Household Tales, The Two Friends: a king's poison fails, a friend is revived, and a saint asks for a baby's blood» 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/722-pg2435-part62/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:722-pg2435-part62:e2:1
# text = Which statement most accurately identifies the agent by whom the poisoning of the friend was instigated?
1	Which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	2	det	_	_
2	statement	statement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	4	advmod	_	_
4	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	identifies	identify	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	agent	agent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	whom	whom	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	5	obl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	poisoning	poisoning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj:pass	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
15	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux:pass	_	_
16	instigated	instigate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | present | which statement | the agent |  |  |  | accurately *property* | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent agent=Theme |
| 2 | **instigate** | past · passive |  | the poisoning of the friend |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 3 | **poison** |  |  | the friend |  |  |  |  | nom poisoning «state transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 -->
The queen, acting alone.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:722-pg2435-part62:e2:o1:1
# text = The queen, acting alone.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	queen	queen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
4	acting	act	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
5	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **act** | gerund | the queen *not said here* |  |  |  |  | alone *property* | vn act-114-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The steward of the castle.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:722-pg2435-part62:e2:o2:1
# text = The steward of the castle.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	steward	steward	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	castle	castle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The king's advisor, who wished the prince's friend to be removed from court.

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:722-pg2435-part62:e2:o3:1
# text = The king's advisor, who wished the prince's friend to be removed from court.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	advisor	advisor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	wished	wish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
13	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	aux:pass	_	_
14	removed	remove	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	advcl	_	_
15	from	from	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	court	court	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wish** | past | the king's advisor | the prince's friend |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot friend=Theme |
| 2 | **remove** | to-infinitive · passive | the king's advisor *not said here* |  |  | court |  |  | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP PP.source»: from court=Source |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The king, who sought to secure his daughter's marriage to the prince.

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:722-pg2435-part62:e2:o4:1
# text = The king, who sought to secure his daughter's marriage to the prince.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
4	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	sought	seek	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	secure	secure	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	daughter	daughter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	marriage	marriage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	prince	prince	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **seek** | past | the king |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **secure** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the king *not said here* | king's daughter's marriage |  |  |  | to the prince | vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent marriage=Patient to prince=Co-Patient |
| 3 | **marry** |  | king's daughter |  |  |  |  |  | nom marriage «state 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.

<!-- /div -->

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