---
title: Identify the principal reason for which a guard dog exhibits aggress… — The bulldog next door who never likes… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason for which a guard dog exhibits aggression towards persons who linger at its gate. Exam question 1 of lesson 456 «The bulldog next door who never likes you» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of ea
---

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# Exam question 1 · The bulldog next door who never likes you

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason for which a guard dog exhibits aggression towards persons who linger at its gate.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, guard dog, persons · **What happens:** identify, exhibit, linger · **To what, where:** principal reason, aggression, gate

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 456 «The bulldog next door who never likes you» of the everyday 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/everyday/456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you:e1:1
# text = Identify the principal reason for which a guard dog exhibits aggression towards persons who linger at its gate.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	obl	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	guard	guard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	exhibits	exhibit	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl	_	_
11	aggression	aggression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
12	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	_
14	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	15	nsubj	_	_
15	linger	linger	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	acl:relcl	_	_
16	at	at	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	gate	gate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **exhibit** | present | a guard dog | aggression |  |  |  | for the principal reason; towards persons | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent aggression=Theme |
| 3 | **linger** | present | persons |  |  | dog's gate |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at gate=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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It seeks to obtain confectionery from passers-by

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you:e1:o1:1
# text = It seeks to obtain confectionery from passers-by
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	seeks	seek	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	obtain	obtain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	confectionery	confectionery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	passers	passer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **seek** | present | It |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **obtain** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  | confectionery |  |  |  | from passers | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent confectionery=Theme from passer=Source |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It harbours a personal animosity towards each individual

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you:e1:o2:1
# text = It harbours a personal animosity towards each individual
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	harbours	harbour	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	personal	personal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	animosity	animosity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
8	individual	individual	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **harbour** | present | It | a personal animosity |  |  |  | towards each individual | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It has been instructed to attack all children

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you:e1:o3:1
# text = It has been instructed to attack all children
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	instructed	instruct	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	attack	attack	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
8	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **instruct** *speech: other* | present · perfect · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP how S\_INF»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **attack** | to-infinitive |  | all children |  |  |  |  | vn attack-60.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent child=Patient |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It perceives such persons as a threat to the premises it defends

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:456-the-bulldog-next-door-who-never-likes-you:e1:o4:1
# text = It perceives such persons as a threat to the premises it defends
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	perceives	perceive	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	threat	threat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	premises	premise	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	defends	defend	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **perceive** | present | It | such persons |  |  |  | as a threat to the premises | vn characterize-29.2 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent person=Theme as threat=Attribute |
| 2 | **defend** | present | threat | the premises *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent premise=Beneficiary |

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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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