---
title: Ascertain the principal deficiency which, in the hunter's own estima… — Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 4:… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the principal deficiency which, in the hunter's own estimation, impeded the success of both hunters in the forest. Exam question 2 of lesson 78 «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 4: How the Leopard got his Spots, part 2 (One, two, three, and where's your breakfast?)» of the books course o
---

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# Exam question 2 · Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 4: How the Leopard got…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the principal deficiency which, in the hunter's own estimation, impeded the success of both hunters in the forest.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, own estimation, hunter · **What happens:** ascertain, impede, estimate · **To what, where:** principal deficiency, forest

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 78 «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 4: How the Leopard got his Spots, part 2 (One, two, three, and where's your breakfast?)» 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/78-justso-leopard-spots-2/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:78-justso-leopard-spots-2:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the principal deficiency which, in the hunter's own estimation, impeded the success of both hunters in the forest.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	deficiency	deficiency	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	hunter	hunter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	estimation	estimation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
14	impeded	impede	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	success	success	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	19	det	_	_
19	hunters	hunter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nmod	_	_
20	in	in	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	forest	forest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal deficiency |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent deficiency=Topic |
| 2 | **impede** | past | the hunter's own estimation | the principal deficiency |  | the forest |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **estimate** |  | the hunter |  |  |  |  |  | nom estimation «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Their skins had the wrong stripes and blotches for the hot and bright and very open High Veldt

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:78-justso-leopard-spots-2:e2:o1:1
# text = Their skins had the wrong stripes and blotches for the hot and bright and very open High Veldt
1	Their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	skins	skin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	stripes	stripe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	blotches	blotch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
11	hot	hot	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	bright	bright	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	conj	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
15	very	very	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	open	open	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	conj	_	_
17	High	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	Veldt	Veldt	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | Their skins | the wrong stripes and blotches |  |  |  | for the hot High Veldt | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stripe=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They were not clever enough at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:78-justso-leopard-spots-2:e2:o2:1
# text = They were not clever enough at all
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	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	enough	enough	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | past | They |  |  | all |  | clever, enough *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They did not match their backgrounds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:78-justso-leopard-spots-2:e2:o3:1
# text = They did not match their backgrounds
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	match	match	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	backgrounds	background	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **match** | past · do-support | They | their backgrounds |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent background=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The forest was far too dark for them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:78-justso-leopard-spots-2:e2:o4:1
# text = The forest was far too dark for them
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	forest	forest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	6	advmod	_	_
5	too	too	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	dark	dark	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the forest |  |  |  |  | for them *= they*; dark, far *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: [Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 4:…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/78-justso-leopard-spots-2/e1/)
- next →: [Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 4:…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/78-justso-leopard-spots-2/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 4: How the Leopard got his Spots, part 2 (One, two, three, and where's your breakfast?)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/78-justso-leopard-spots-2/)