---
title: It is given that scratching sounds are audible within a house at nig… — Sleepovers and spooky stories · tree and pragmatics
description: It is given that scratching sounds are audible within a house at night. Determine the most probable explanation. Exam question 4 of lesson 26 «Sleepovers and spooky stories» of the myths course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova
---

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# Exam question 4 · Sleepovers and spooky stories

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is given that scratching sounds are audible within a house at night. Determine the most probable explanation.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** that, you · **What happens:** give, be, determine · **To what, where:** It, probable explanation

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This is exam question 4 of lesson 26 «Sleepovers and spooky stories» of the myths 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/myths/26-sleepovers-and-spooky-stories/#e4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* It is given that scratching sounds are audible within a house at night.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:26-sleepovers-and-spooky-stories:e4:1
# text = It is given that scratching sounds are audible within a house at night.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	8	nsubj	_	_
5	scratching	scratching	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	sounds	sound	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	audible	audible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	advcl	_	_
9	within	within	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
12	at	at	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | present · passive |  | It |  |  | night | within a house | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | that |  |  |  |  | audible *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Determine the most probable explanation.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:26-sleepovers-and-spooky-stories:e4:2
# text = Determine the most probable explanation.
1	Determine	determine	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	probable	probable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	explanation	explanation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **determine** | imperative | you *not said here* | the probable explanation |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent explanation=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The house's preparation for an earthquake

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:26-sleepovers-and-spooky-stories:e4:o1:1
# text = The house's preparation for an earthquake
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	preparation	preparation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	earthquake	earthquake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prepare** |  | the house |  |  |  |  | for a earthquake | nom preparation «act transitive»: poss=agent for=obl |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A monster resident within the walls

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:26-sleepovers-and-spooky-stories:e4:o2:1
# text = A monster resident within the walls
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	monster	monster	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	resident	resident	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	within	within	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	walls	wall	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The presence of a ghost seeking admission

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:26-sleepovers-and-spooky-stories:e4:o3:1
# text = The presence of a ghost seeking admission
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	presence	presence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	ghost	ghost	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	seeking	seek	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
7	admission	admission	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **seek** | gerund | the presence of a ghost *not said here* | admission |  |  |  |  | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent admission=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Animals, vegetation, wind, pipework or the settling of the building

```conllu
# sent_id = question:myths:26-sleepovers-and-spooky-stories:e4:o4:1
# text = Animals, vegetation, wind, pipework or the settling of the building
1	Animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
3	vegetation	vegetation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
5	wind	wind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	pipework	pipework	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	settling	settling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	building	building	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **settle** |  | the building |  |  |  |  |  | nom settling «event intransitive»: of=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: [Sleepovers and spooky stories, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/myths/26-sleepovers-and-spooky-stories/e3/)
- next →: [Everyday sayings and grown-ups' rules, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/myths/27-everyday-sayings-and-grown-ups-rules/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Sleepovers and spooky stories](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/myths/26-sleepovers-and-spooky-stories/)