---
title: Ascertain the most prudent course of action for a child whose ball h… — Rival teams and the older bully · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the most prudent course of action for a child whose ball has been propelled into a river flowing towards a weir. Exam question 2 of lesson 472 «Rival teams and the older bully» of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of e
---

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# Exam question 2 · Rival teams and the older bully

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the most prudent course of action for a child whose ball has been propelled into a river flowing towards a weir.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, river · **What happens:** ascertain, propel, flow · **To what, where:** prudent course, ball, river

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 472 «Rival teams and the older bully» 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/472-rival-teams-and-the-older-bully/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:472-rival-teams-and-the-older-bully:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the most prudent course of action for a child whose ball has been propelled into a river flowing towards a weir.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
3	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	4	advmod	_	_
4	prudent	prudent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	course	course	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	action	action	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
11	whose	whose	PRON	WP$	Poss=Yes|PronType=Rel	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	ball	ball	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj:pass	_	_
13	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
14	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	15	aux:pass	_	_
15	propelled	propel	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	acl:relcl	_	_
16	into	into	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
19	flowing	flow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	18	acl	_	_
20	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	weir	weir	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the prudent course of action |  |  |  | for a child | vn ensure-99 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Precondition course=Theme for child=Beneficiary |
| 2 | **propel** | present · perfect · passive |  | ball |  | a river |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **flow** | gerund | a river *not said here* |  |  |  |  | towards a weir | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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 -->
To pursue the ball along the river to the weir

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:472-rival-teams-and-the-older-bully:e2:o1:1
# text = To pursue the ball along the river to the weir
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	pursue	pursue	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	ball	ball	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	along	along	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	river	river	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	weir	weir	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pursue** | to-infinitive |  | the ball |  | the river |  | to the weir | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent ball=Theme along river=Trajectory |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To refrain from entering the water and to inform an adult

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:472-rival-teams-and-the-older-bully:e2:o2:1
# text = To refrain from entering the water and to inform an adult
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	refrain	refrain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	from	from	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
4	entering	enter	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	inform	inform	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	adult	adult	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **refrain** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn refrain-69 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **enter** | gerund |  | the water |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme water=Destination |
| 3 | **inform** *speech: other* | to-infinitive |  |  | a adult |  |  |  | vn tell-37.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent adult=Recipient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To enter the water promptly in order to recover it before the weir

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:472-rival-teams-and-the-older-bully:e2:o3:1
# text = To enter the water promptly in order to recover it before the weir
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	enter	enter	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	promptly	promptly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
6	in	in	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	9	mark	_	_
7	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	fixed	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	recover	recover	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
11	before	before	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	weir	weir	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **enter** | to-infinitive |  | the water |  |  |  | promptly *property* | vn escape-51.1-1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme water=Destination |
| 2 | **recover** | to-infinitive |  | water |  |  | before the weir |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To await its return to the bank

```conllu
# sent_id = question:everyday:472-rival-teams-and-the-older-bully:e2:o4:1
# text = To await its return to the bank
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	await	await	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	return	return	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	bank	bank	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **await** | to-infinitive |  | its return |  |  |  | to the bank | tree rules |
| 2 | **return** |  | its *= it* |  |  |  |  |  | nom return «communication intransitive»: poss=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.

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- ← previous: [Rival teams and the older bully, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/472-rival-teams-and-the-older-bully/e1/)
- next →: [Rival teams and the older bully, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/472-rival-teams-and-the-older-bully/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Rival teams and the older bully](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/everyday/472-rival-teams-and-the-older-bully/)