---
title: What was the principal cause of the bell's removal from its tower? — Andersen's Tales, The Old Church Bell:… · tree and pragmatics
description: What was the principal cause of the bell's removal from its tower? Exam question 1 of lesson 919 «Andersen's Tales, The Old Church Bell: a cracked bell is sold, melted, and cast into a statue of a poet» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the ques
---

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# Exam question 1 · Andersen's Tales, The Old Church Bell: a cracked bell is s…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What was the principal cause of the bell's removal from its tower?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **What happens:** be, remove · **To what, where:** principal cause, bell, tower

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 919 «Andersen's Tales, The Old Church Bell: a cracked bell is sold, melted, and cast into a statue of a poet» 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/919-pg27200-part130/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:919-pg27200-part130:e1:1
# text = What was the principal cause of the bell's removal from its tower?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	bell	bell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	removal	removal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
11	from	from	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	tower	tower	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the principal cause |  |  |  | of the bell's removal from removal's tower | tree rules |
| 2 | **remove** |  |  | the bell |  | removal's tower |  |  | nom removal «act transitive»: poss=patient from=place |

<!-- .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 -->
A crack that prevented it from chiming and the council's decision to sell it

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:919-pg27200-part130:e1:o1:1
# text = A crack that prevented it from chiming and the council's decision to sell it
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	crack	crack	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	4	nsubj	_	_
4	prevented	prevent	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	from	from	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
7	chiming	chime	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	council	council	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	's	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	decision	decision	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	conj	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	sell	sell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prevent** | past | a crack | it |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer it=Theme |
| 2 | **chime** | gerund | a crack *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **sell** | to-infinitive | a crack *not said here* | crack |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 4 | **decide** |  | the council |  |  |  |  |  | nom decision «act transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The town council decided to sell it because a crack prevented it from chiming at all

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:919-pg27200-part130:e1:o2:1
# text = The town council decided to sell it because a crack prevented it from chiming at all
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	council	council	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	decided	decide	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	sell	sell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	crack	crack	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	prevented	prevent	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obj	_	_
13	from	from	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
14	chiming	chime	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	11	advcl	_	_
15	at	at	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	14	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **decide** | past | the town council |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **sell** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the town council *not said here* | council |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 3 | **prevent** | past | a crack | council |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer it=Theme |
| 4 | **chime** | gerund | a crack *not said here* |  |  | all |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at all=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rust that weakened the iron frame

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:919-pg27200-part130:e1:o3:1
# text = Rust that weakened the iron frame
1	Rust	rust	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	3	nsubj	_	_
3	weakened	weaken	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	acl:relcl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	iron	iron	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	frame	frame	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **weaken** | past | Rust | the iron frame |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent frame=Patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A crack that prevented it from chiming

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:919-pg27200-part130:e1:o4:1
# text = A crack that prevented it from chiming
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	crack	crack	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	4	nsubj	_	_
4	prevented	prevent	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	from	from	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
7	chiming	chime	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prevent** | past | a crack | crack |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer it=Theme |
| 2 | **chime** | gerund | a crack *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=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.

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