---
title: Ascertain the purpose for which the Elephant's Child suspended his n… — Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5:… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the purpose for which the Elephant's Child suspended his nose, wrapped in banana leaves, within the waters of the Limpopo. Exam question 2 of lesson 80 «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5: The Elephant's Child, part 2 (the tug-of-war and the trunk)» of the books course of Mova's primary 
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/80-justso-elephants-child-2/e2/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/) / [Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5:…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/80-justso-elephants-child-2/) / e2

# Exam question 2 · Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5: The Elephant's Child…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the purpose for which the Elephant's Child suspended his nose, wrapped in banana leaves, within the waters of the Limpopo.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, Child · **What happens:** ascertain, suspend, wrap · **To what, where:** purpose, nose, banana leaves

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 80 «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5: The Elephant's Child, part 2 (the tug-of-war and the trunk)» 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/80-justso-elephants-child-2/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:80-justso-elephants-child-2:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the purpose for which the Elephant's Child suspended his nose, wrapped in banana leaves, within the waters of the Limpopo.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	purpose	purpose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	obl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	Elephant	Elephant	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	Child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	suspended	suspend	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	parataxis	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	nose	nose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	wrapped	wrap	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	conj	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	banana	banana	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	compound	_	_
17	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
19	within	within	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	waters	water	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	_
22	of	of	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	Limpopo	Limpopo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	21	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	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 purpose |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent purpose=Topic |
| 2 | **suspend** | past | the Elephant's Child | Child's nose |  |  |  |  | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nose=Theme |
| 3 | **wrap** | participle | the Elephant's Child *not said here* |  |  | banana leaves |  | within the waters of the Limpopo | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme in leaf=Destination |

<!-- .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 -->
To wait for it to shrink to its old size

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:80-justso-elephants-child-2:e2:o1:1
# text = To wait for it to shrink to its old size
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	wait	wait	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
3	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	shrink	shrink	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
9	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wait** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **shrink** | to-infinitive | it |  |  |  |  | to its old size *result* | vn bend-45.2 «NP V NP PP.result»: agent=Agent to size=Result |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To let it grow even longer for the Snake

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:80-justso-elephants-child-2:e2:o2:1
# text = To let it grow even longer for the Snake
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	let	let	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	grow	grow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	even	even	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	longer	long	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	4	advmod	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	Snake	snake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **let** | to-infinitive |  | it |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **grow** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | for the Snake; long *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To await its contraction to its former size, as the Python had instructed him to do in the river

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:80-justso-elephants-child-2:e2:o3:1
# text = To await its contraction to its former size, as the Python had instructed him to do in the river
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	await	await	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	contraction	contraction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	former	former	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
10	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	Python	Python	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nsubj:pass	_	_
13	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	instructed	instruct	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	advcl	_	_
15	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
17	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	xcomp	_	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **await** | to-infinitive |  | its contraction |  |  |  | to contraction's former size | tree rules |
| 2 | **instruct** *speech: other* | past · perfect · passive |  | the Python |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **do** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | the river |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **contract** |  | its *= it* |  |  |  |  |  | nom contraction «act transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To await its contraction to its former size

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:80-justso-elephants-child-2:e2:o4:1
# text = To await its contraction to its former size
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	await	await	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	contraction	contraction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	former	former	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **await** | to-infinitive |  | its contraction |  |  |  | to contraction's former size | tree rules |
| 2 | **contract** |  | its *= it* |  |  |  |  |  | nom contraction «act transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5:…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/80-justso-elephants-child-2/e1/)
- next →: [Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5:…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/80-justso-elephants-child-2/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 5: The Elephant's Child, part 2 (the tug-of-war and the trunk)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/80-justso-elephants-child-2/)