---
title: exam: What is the principal reason the uncle desires the boy's prese… — Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Ice Maiden… · tree and pragmatics
description: exam: What is the principal reason the uncle desires the boy's presence? Exam question 3 of lesson 853 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Ice Maiden, part 64: a mother lost in the ice, a boy sent to his uncle» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the que
---

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# Exam question 3 · Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Ice Maiden, part 64: a mother…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
exam: What is the principal reason the uncle desires the boy's presence?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** exam, uncle · **What happens:** be, desire · **To what, where:** principal reason, presence

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This is exam question 3 of lesson 853 «Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Ice Maiden, part 64: a mother lost in the ice, a boy sent to his uncle» 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/853-pg27200-part64/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:853-pg27200-part64:e3:1
# text = exam: What is the principal reason the uncle desires the boy's presence?
1	exam	exam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
3	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	7	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	uncle	uncle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	desires	desire	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	's	's	PART	POS	_	12	case	_	_
14	presence	presence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | exam | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **desire** | present | the uncle | the boy's presence |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot presence=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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To secure him a better education

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:853-pg27200-part64:e3:o1:1
# text = To secure him a better education
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	secure	secure	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	amod	_	_
6	education	education	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **secure** | to-infinitive |  | a better education | him *= he* |  |  |  | vn ensure-99 «NP V NP NP»: agent=Precondition he=Beneficiary education=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To help on the farm

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:853-pg27200-part64:e3:o2:1
# text = To help on the farm
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	help	help	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	farm	farm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **help** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | the farm |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To keep him safe

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:853-pg27200-part64:e3:o3:1
# text = To keep him safe
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	keep	keep	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	safe	safe	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | to-infinitive |  | him *= he* |  |  |  | safe *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because he has no one else to help

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:853-pg27200-part64:e3:o4:1
# text = Because he has no one else to help
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	5	det	_	_
5	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	else	else	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | he | no one |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent one=Patient |
| 2 | **help** | to-infinitive | he *not said here* | no one *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=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.

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