---
title: Select the opening consistent with the technique of commencing in th… — Openings that hook the reader · tree and pragmatics
description: Select the opening consistent with the technique of commencing in the middle of the action. Exam question 3 of lesson 40 «Openings that hook the reader» of the English course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong
---

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# Exam question 3 · Openings that hook the reader

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Select the opening consistent with the technique of commencing in the middle of the action.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, technique · **What happens:** select, commence · **To what, where:** opening, middle

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 40 «Openings that hook the reader» of the English 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/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:40-openings-that-hook-the-reader:e3:1
# text = Select the opening consistent with the technique of commencing in the middle of the action.
1	Select	select	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	opening	opening	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	consistent	consistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	xcomp	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	technique	technique	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
9	commencing	commence	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	acl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	middle	middle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	action	action	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **select** | imperative | you *not said here* | the opening |  |  |  | consistent *property* | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent opening=Theme |
| 2 | **commence** | gerund | the technique *not said here* |  |  | the middle of the action |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Once upon a time there lived a girl.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:40-openings-that-hook-the-reader:e3:o1:1
# text = Once upon a time there lived a girl.
1	Once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	6	advmod	_	_
2	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
5	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	6	advmod	_	_
6	lived	live	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	girl	girl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **live** | past |  | a girl |  | there | time | once *property* | vn lodge-46 «NP V ADV»: agent=Theme girl=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ola was born in Norway in a cold town.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:40-openings-that-hook-the-reader:e3:o2:1
# text = Ola was born in Norway in a cold town.
1	Ola	Ola	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	Norway	Norway	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bear** | past · passive |  | Ola |  | Norway |  | in a cold town | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ice cracked beneath Ola's feet.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:40-openings-that-hook-the-reader:e3:o3:1
# text = The ice cracked beneath Ola's feet.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	cracked	crack	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	beneath	beneath	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	Ola	Ola	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	feet	foot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **crack** | past | the ice |  |  | Ola's feet |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme beneath foot=Location |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
This narrative concerns a girl named Ola.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:english:40-openings-that-hook-the-reader:e3:o4:1
# text = This narrative concerns a girl named Ola.
1	This	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	narrative	narrative	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	concerns	concern	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	girl	girl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	named	name	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	Ola	Ola	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **concern** | present | this narrative | a girl |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus girl=Experiencer |
| 2 | **name** | participle |  | a girl *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: 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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Openings that hook the reader, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/e2/)
- next →: [Openings that hook the reader, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Openings that hook the reader](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/)