---
title: Pursuant to the narrative, by what means did the vanquished actor co… — Andersen's Tales, What the Moon Saw, p… · tree and pragmatics
description: Pursuant to the narrative, by what means did the vanquished actor contemplate ending his existence? Exam question 1 of lesson 906 «Andersen's Tales, What the Moon Saw, part 117: the Moon shows a dead actor, a broken pitcher, a desert caravan and a doll in a tree» of the books course of Mova's primar
---

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# Exam question 1 · Andersen's Tales, What the Moon Saw, part 117: the Moon sh…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Pursuant to the narrative, by what means did the vanquished actor contemplate ending his existence?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** narrative, vanquished actor, actor · **What happens:** mean, vanquish, contemplate, end, exist · **To what, where:** existence · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 906 «Andersen's Tales, What the Moon Saw, part 117: the Moon shows a dead actor, a broken pitcher, a desert caravan and a doll in a tree» 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/906-pg27200-part117/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:906-pg27200-part117:e1:1
# text = Pursuant to the narrative, by what means did the vanquished actor contemplate ending his existence?
1	Pursuant	pursuant	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	to	to	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	narrative	narrative	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	8	nsubj	_	_
8	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	vanquished	vanquish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	amod	_	_
12	actor	actor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	contemplate	contemplate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	ccomp	_	_
14	ending	end	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	13	csubj	_	_
15	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	existence	existence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | the narrative |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **vanquish** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **contemplate** | past · do-support | the vanquished actor |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **end** | gerund |  | actor's existence |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Subeventuality existence=Eventuality |
| 5 | **exist** |  | actor |  |  |  |  |  | nom existence «state intransitive»: 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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By drowning in the river

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:906-pg27200-part117:e1:o1:1
# text = By drowning in the river
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	drowning	drown	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **drown** | gerund |  |  |  | the river |  |  | vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He weighed the blade and the rope while sitting alone by the fire

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:906-pg27200-part117:e1:o2:1
# text = He weighed the blade and the rope while sitting alone by the fire
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	weighed	weigh	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	blade	blade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	rope	rope	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
8	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
9	sitting	sit	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	advcl	_	_
10	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
11	by	by	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **weigh** | past | He | the blade and the rope |  |  |  |  | vn register-54.1-2-1 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme blade=Value |
| 2 | **sit** | gerund | He *not said here* |  |  |  |  | by the fire; alone *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent by fire=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He chose the sword

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:906-pg27200-part117:e1:o3:1
# text = He chose the sword
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	chose	choose	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **choose** | past | He | the sword |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sword=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He considered hanging or poison, examining his face in the glass

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:906-pg27200-part117:e1:o4:1
# text = He considered hanging or poison, examining his face in the glass
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	considered	consider	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	hanging	hang	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	xcomp	_	_
4	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	poison	poison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	examining	examine	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	conj	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	glass	glass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **consider** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **hang** | gerund | He *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **examine** | gerund | He *not said here* | his face |  | the glass |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent face=Theme |

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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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- ← previous: [Andersen's Tales, What the Moon Saw, p…, test 13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/906-pg27200-part117/t13/)
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