---
title: Ascertain the reason for which an aged or sickly cat may withdraw to… — The old dog, the vet and the hardest g… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which an aged or sickly cat may withdraw to a concealed place before death. Exam question 4 of lesson 56 «The old dog, the vet and the hardest goodbye» of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each
---

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# Exam question 4 · The old dog, the vet and the hardest goodbye

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which an aged or sickly cat may withdraw to a concealed place before death.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, aged cat · **What happens:** ascertain, withdraw, conceal · **To what, where:** reason, concealed place

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 56 «The old dog, the vet and the hardest goodbye» of the religion ethics 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/religion-ethics/56-the-old-dog-the-vet-and-the-hardest-goodbye/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:56-the-old-dog-the-vet-and-the-hardest-goodbye:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which an aged or sickly cat may withdraw to a concealed place before death.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	12	obl	_	_
6	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
7	aged	aged	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	sickly	sickly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	conj	_	_
10	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
11	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	withdraw	withdraw	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	parataxis	_	_
13	to	to	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	concealed	conceal	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	16	amod	_	_
16	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
17	before	before	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	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 reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **withdraw** | may | a aged cat |  |  | a concealed place | before death | for the reason | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to place=Initial\_Location |
| 3 | **conceal** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn concealment-16 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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 -->
Punishment for misconduct during its life

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:56-the-old-dog-the-vet-and-the-hardest-goodbye:e4:o1:1
# text = Punishment for misconduct during its life
1	Punishment	punishment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	for	for	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	misconduct	misconduct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
4	during	during	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A desire to find a more agreeable household elsewhere in the district

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:56-the-old-dog-the-vet-and-the-hardest-goodbye:e4:o2:1
# text = A desire to find a more agreeable household elsewhere in the district
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	desire	desire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	find	find	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	7	advmod	_	_
7	agreeable	agreeable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	household	household	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
9	elsewhere	elsewhere	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	district	district	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **find** | to-infinitive |  | a agreeable household |  | the district |  | elsewhere *property* | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent household=Topic |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A deliberate rejection of its owners

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:56-the-old-dog-the-vet-and-the-hardest-goodbye:e4:o3:1
# text = A deliberate rejection of its owners
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	deliberate	deliberate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	rejection	rejection	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	owners	owner	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reject** |  |  | rejection's owners |  |  |  |  | nom rejection «act transitive»: of=patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Instinct, and not any lack of attachment to its household

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:56-the-old-dog-the-vet-and-the-hardest-goodbye:e4:o4:1
# text = Instinct, and not any lack of attachment to its household
1	Instinct	instinct	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
5	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	6	det	_	_
6	lack	lack	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	attachment	attachment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	household	household	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lack** |  |  | attachment to attachment's household |  |  |  |  | nom lack «state transitive»: of=patient |

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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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