---
title: Why, according to Ole, did the stars fall upon the graves of the dead? — Andersen's Tales, Ole the Tower-Keeper… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why, according to Ole, did the stars fall upon the graves of the dead? Exam question 4 of lesson 929 «Andersen's Tales, Ole the Tower-Keeper, part 140: Ole talks about boulders, the wild ride to Amack and falling stars» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragm
---

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# Exam question 4 · Andersen's Tales, Ole the Tower-Keeper, part 140: Ole talk…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why, according to Ole, did the stars fall upon the graves of the dead?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Ole, stars · **What happens:** accord, do, fall · **To what, where:** graves

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 929 «Andersen's Tales, Ole the Tower-Keeper, part 140: Ole talks about boulders, the wild ride to Amack and falling stars» 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/929-pg27200-part140/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:929-pg27200-part140:e4:1
# text = Why, according to Ole, did the stars fall upon the graves of the dead?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	according	accord	VERB	VBG	ExtPos=ADP|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	case	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	3	fixed	_	_
5	Ole	Ole	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
7	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
10	fall	fall	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	parataxis	_	_
11	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	graves	grave	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **accord** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **do** | past | Ole |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **fall** | present | the stars |  |  | the graves of the dead |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme upon grave=Location |

<!-- .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 -->
because silent thanks were caught up and returned as shooting stars

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:929-pg27200-part140:e4:o1:1
# text = because silent thanks were caught up and returned as shooting stars
1	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	silent	silent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	thanks	thanks	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	caught	catch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	up	up	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	returned	return	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
9	as	as	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	shooting	shooting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **catch up** | past · passive |  | silent thanks |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **return** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | as shooting stars | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
because silent prayers were sent up and fell back

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:929-pg27200-part140:e4:o2:1
# text = because silent prayers were sent up and fell back
1	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	silent	silent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	prayers	prayer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	sent	send	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	up	up	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	fell	fall	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
9	back	back	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send up** | past · passive |  | silent prayers |  |  |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **fall back** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
because silent thanks from the living were caught up in the air and returned to earth as shooting stars

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:929-pg27200-part140:e4:o3:1
# text = because silent thanks from the living were caught up in the air and returned to earth as shooting stars
1	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
2	silent	silent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	thanks	thanks	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	living	living	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	caught	catch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	up	up	ADP	RP	_	8	compound:prt	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	returned	return	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
15	to	to	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	earth	earth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
17	as	as	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	shooting	shooting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	compound	_	_
19	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **catch up** | past · passive |  | silent thanks from the living |  | the air |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **return** | past |  |  |  |  |  | to earth *result*; as shooting stars | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to earth=Result |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
because the sky was full of old wishes

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:929-pg27200-part140:e4:o4:1
# text = because the sky was full of old wishes
1	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	sky	sky	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	full	full	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	wishes	wish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the sky |  |  |  |  | of old wishes; full *property* | tree rules |

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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, Ole the Tower-Keeper…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/929-pg27200-part140/e3/)
- next →: [Andersen tales, Ole the Tower-Keeper,…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/930-pg27200-part141/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Andersen's Tales, Ole the Tower-Keeper, part 140: Ole talks about boulders, the wild ride to Amack and falling stars](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/929-pg27200-part140/)