---
title: It is given that a farmer possesses seventeen sheep and that all but… — Trick questions that catch quick think… · tree and pragmatics
description: It is given that a farmer possesses seventeen sheep and that all but nine of them abscond. Ascertain the number of sheep remaining in the farmer's possession. Exam question 1 of lesson 181 «Trick questions that catch quick thinkers» of the world course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency t
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/181-trick-questions-that-catch-quick-thinkers/e1/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [World](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/) / [Trick questions that catch quick think…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/181-trick-questions-that-catch-quick-thinkers/) / e1

# Exam question 1 · Trick questions that catch quick thinkers

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is given that a farmer possesses seventeen sheep and that all but nine of them abscond. Ascertain the number of sheep remaining in the farmer's possession.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** farmer, you, sheep · **What happens:** give, possess, abscond, ascertain, remain · **To what, where:** It, seventeen sheep, number, possession

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 181 «Trick questions that catch quick thinkers» of the world 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/world/181-trick-questions-that-catch-quick-thinkers/#e1).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* It is given that a farmer possesses seventeen sheep and that all but nine of them abscond.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:181-trick-questions-that-catch-quick-thinkers:e1:1
# text = It is given that a farmer possesses seventeen sheep and that all but nine of them abscond.
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	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	farmer	farmer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	possesses	possess	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
8	seventeen	seventeen	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	sheep	sheep	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
11	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
12	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	17	advmod	_	_
13	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	nine	nine	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	conj	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nmod	_	_
17	abscond	abscond	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **possess** | present | a farmer | seventeen sheep |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot sheep=Theme |
| 3 | **abscond** | present | a farmer *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | 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:* Ascertain the number of sheep remaining in the farmer's possession.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:181-trick-questions-that-catch-quick-thinkers:e1:2
# text = Ascertain the number of sheep remaining in the farmer's possession.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	sheep	sheep	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
6	remaining	remain	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	acl	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	farmer	farmer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	's	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	possession	possession	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	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 number of sheep |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent number=Topic |
| 2 | **remain** | gerund | sheep *not said here* |  |  | the farmer's possession |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in possession=Location |
| 3 | **possess** |  | the farmer |  |  |  |  |  | nom possession «act transitive»: poss=agent |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Twenty-six

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:181-trick-questions-that-catch-quick-thinkers:e1:o1:1
# text = Twenty-six
1	Twenty	twenty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	-	-	PUNCT	:	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	six	six	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	1	conj	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Seventeen

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:181-trick-questions-that-catch-quick-thinkers:e1:o2:1
# text = Seventeen
1	Seventeen	seventeen	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Eight

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:181-trick-questions-that-catch-quick-thinkers:e1:o3:1
# text = Eight
1	Eight	eight	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	0	root	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nine

```conllu
# sent_id = question:world:181-trick-questions-that-catch-quick-thinkers:e1:o4:1
# text = Nine
1	Nine	nine	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	0	root	_	_
```

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

<!-- div src -->

**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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Trick questions that catch quick think…, test 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/181-trick-questions-that-catch-quick-thinkers/t11/)
- next →: [Trick questions that catch quick think…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/181-trick-questions-that-catch-quick-thinkers/e2/)
- ↑ back to [Trick questions that catch quick thinkers](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/world/181-trick-questions-that-catch-quick-thinkers/)