---
title: Ascertain the means by which the shipwrecked Mariner secured the gra… — Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 1:… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the means by which the shipwrecked Mariner secured the grating within the throat of the Whale. Exam question 2 of lesson 74 «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 1: How the Whale got his Throat» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the ques
---

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# Exam question 2 · Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 1: How the Whale got hi…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the means by which the shipwrecked Mariner secured the grating within the throat of the Whale.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, the, shipwrecked Mariner · **What happens:** ascertain, mean, shipwreck, secure · **To what, where:** grating · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 74 «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 1: How the Whale got his Throat» 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/74-justso-whale-throat/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:74-justso-whale-throat:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the means by which the shipwrecked Mariner secured the grating within the throat of the Whale.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	nsubj	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	ccomp	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	shipwrecked	shipwreck	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
8	Mariner	Mariner	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	secured	secure	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	grating	grating	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	within	within	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	throat	throat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	Whale	whale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **mean** | present | the |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **shipwreck** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **secure** | past | the shipwrecked Mariner | the grating |  |  |  | within the throat of the Whale | vn ensure-99 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition grating=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 -->
By binding it with his suspenders

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:74-justso-whale-throat:e2:o1:1
# text = By binding it with his suspenders
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	binding	bind	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	suspenders	suspender	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bind** | gerund |  | it |  |  |  | with his suspenders | vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent it=Patient with suspender=Co-Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
With rope

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:74-justso-whale-throat:e2:o2:1
# text = With rope
1	With	with	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	rope	rope	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By tying it with his breeches

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:74-justso-whale-throat:e2:o3:1
# text = By tying it with his breeches
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	tying	tie	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	breeches	breech	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tie** | gerund |  | it |  |  |  | with his breeches | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent it=Patient with breech=Co-Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By knotting

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:74-justso-whale-throat:e2:o4:1
# text = By knotting
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	knotting	knot	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **knot** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn tape-22.4 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |

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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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