---
title: What is the precise nature of the surface upon which the prisoner in… — Andersen's Tales, The Moon: the Moon w… · tree and pragmatics
description: What is the precise nature of the surface upon which the prisoner inscribed his final composition? Exam question 2 of lesson 909 «Andersen's Tales, The Moon: the Moon watches a prisoner leave his cell, then a little girl says her prayers» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the depend
---

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# Exam question 2 · Andersen's Tales, The Moon: the Moon watches a prisoner le…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What is the precise nature of the surface upon which the prisoner inscribed his final composition?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** precise nature, prisoner · **What happens:** be, inscribe · **To what, where:** final composition, surface

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 909 «Andersen's Tales, The Moon: the Moon watches a prisoner leave his cell, then a little girl says her prayers» 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/909-pg27200-part120/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:909-pg27200-part120:e2:1
# text = What is the precise nature of the surface upon which the prisoner inscribed his final composition?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	precise	precise	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	nature	nature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	surface	surface	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	obl	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	prisoner	prisoner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	inscribed	inscribe	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	acl:relcl	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
15	final	final	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	composition	composition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the precise nature of the surface |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **inscribe** | past | the prisoner | prisoner's final composition |  | the surface |  |  | vn image\_impression-25.1 «NP V NP.theme PP.destination»: agent=Agent composition=Theme upon which=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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
the prison wall

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:909-pg27200-part120:e2:o1:1
# text = the prison wall
1	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	prison	prison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
the rough plaster surface of the far wall beside the bed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:909-pg27200-part120:e2:o2:1
# text = the rough plaster surface of the far wall beside the bed
1	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	rough	rough	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	plaster	plaster	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	surface	surface	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	far	far	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
9	beside	beside	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	bed	bed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
a stone table

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:909-pg27200-part120:e2:o3:1
# text = a stone table
1	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	table	table	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
the damp inside wall of the old stone tower near the gate

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:909-pg27200-part120:e2:o4:1
# text = the damp inside wall of the old stone tower near the gate
1	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	damp	damp	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	inside	inside	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
7	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
8	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	tower	tower	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
10	near	near	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	gate	gate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

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

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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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- ← previous: [Andersen's Tales, The Moon: the Moon w…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/909-pg27200-part120/e1/)
- next →: [Andersen's Tales, The Moon: the Moon w…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/909-pg27200-part120/e3/)
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