Test 7 · ★★★ · Alice in Wonderland, chapter XI, part 2: Who Stole the Tar…

«If that's all you know about it, you may stand down.» — «I can't go no lower.» What is the joke?

Mova's choice: option 3 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: you, I, joke · What happens: know, stand down, not go, be

This is test 7 · ★★★ of lesson 22 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter XI, part 2: Who Stole the Tarts? (the Hatter, the cook and a surprise witness)» of the books course of Mova's primary school. 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.

The question

Sentence 1: «If that's all you know about it, you may stand down.» — «I can't go no lower.»

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	«	«	PUNCT	_	13 stand	punct
2	If	if	SCONJ	_	7 know	mark
3	that	that	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	5 all	nsubj
4	's	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 all	cop
5	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	7 know	advmod
6	you	you	PRON	Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs	7 know	nsubj
7	know	know	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	13 stand	advcl
8	about	about	ADP	_	9 it	case
9	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	7 know	obl
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	7 know	punct
11	you	you	PRON	Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs	13 stand	nsubj
12	may	may	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	13 stand	aux
13	stand	stand	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
14	down	down	ADP	_	13 stand	compound:prt
15	.	.	PUNCT	_	13 stand	punct
16	»	»	PUNCT	_	13 stand	punct
17	—	-	PUNCT	_	22 go	punct
18	«	«	PUNCT	_	22 go	punct
19	I	I	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs	22 go	nsubj
20	ca	can	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	22 go	aux
21	n't	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	22 go	advmod
22	go	go	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	13 stand	conj
23	no	no	ADV	_	24 lower	advmod
24	lower	low	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	22 go	advmod
25	.	.	PUNCT	_	13 stand	punct
26	»	»	PUNCT	_	13 stand	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	other	roles by
1	know a condition, not said to happen, in a quote	present	you	about it	vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer about it=Stimulus
2	stand down in a quote	may	you		vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	not go in a quote	can	I		vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

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.

Sentence 2: What is the joke?

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	What	what	PRON	PronType=Int	root	root
2	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	1 What	cop
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 joke	det
4	joke	joke	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 What	nsubj
5	?	?	PUNCT	_	1 What	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	the joke						tree rules

The options

Option 1

«Stand down» means to be quiet in court, but he thinks it means to go lower into the cellar below

The tree, 20 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	«	«	PUNCT	_	2 Stand	punct
2	Stand	stand	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	5 means	csubj
3	down	down	ADP	_	2 Stand	compound:prt
4	»	»	PUNCT	_	2 Stand	punct
5	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
6	to	to	PART	_	8 quiet	mark
7	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	8 quiet	cop
8	quiet	quiet	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 means	xcomp
9	in	in	ADP	_	10 court	case
10	court	court	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 quiet	obl
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 thinks	punct
12	but	but	CCONJ	_	14 thinks	cc
13	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	14 thinks	nsubj
14	thinks	think	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	16 means	advcl
15	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	16 means	nsubj
16	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 means	parataxis
17	to	to	PART	_	18 go	mark
18	go	go	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	16 means	ccomp
19	lower	low	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	18 go	advmod
20	into	into	ADP	_	22 cellar	case
21	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	22 cellar	det
22	cellar	cellar	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 go	obl
23	below	below	ADV	_	22 cellar	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	where	other	roles by
1	stand down in a quote	infinitive				vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	mean	present				vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent
3	is not said to happen	to-infinitive		court	quiet property	tree rules
4	think speech: other	present	he			vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent
5	mean	present	it			vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
6	go not said to happen	to-infinitive		the cellar		vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme into cellar=Initial_Location

Option 2

Stand down means get down, not leave the box

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Stand	stand	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	3 means	csubj
2	down	down	ADP	_	1 Stand	compound:prt
3	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	get	get	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	3 means	ccomp
5	down	down	ADP	_	4 get	compound:prt
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	8 leave	punct
7	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	8 leave	advmod
8	leave	leave	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 get	conj
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 box	det
10	box	box	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 leave	obj

#	verb	tense, mood	what, whom	roles by
1	stand down	infinitive		vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	mean	present		vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
3	get down	infinitive		vn convert-26.6.2 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Patient
4	not leave	infinitive	the box	vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent box=Theme

Option 3 · ← Mova's choice

«Stand down» means leave the witness box, but the Hatter takes it literally and tries to get lower down than the floor

The tree, 22 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	«	«	PUNCT	_	2 Stand	punct
2	Stand	stand	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	5 means	csubj
3	down	down	ADP	_	2 Stand	compound:prt
4	»	»	PUNCT	_	2 Stand	punct
5	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
6	leave	leave	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	5 means	ccomp
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 box	det
8	witness	witness	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 box	compound
9	box	box	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 leave	obj
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 takes	punct
11	but	but	CCONJ	_	14 takes	cc
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 Hatter	det
13	Hatter	Hatter	PROPN	Number=Sing	14 takes	nsubj
14	takes	take	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 means	parataxis
15	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	14 takes	obj
16	literally	literally	ADV	_	14 takes	advmod
17	and	and	CCONJ	_	18 tries	cc
18	tries	try	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	14 takes	conj
19	to	to	PART	_	20 get	mark
20	get	get	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	18 tries	xcomp
21	lower	low	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	20 get	xcomp
22	down	down	ADV	_	20 get	advmod
23	than	than	ADP	_	25 floor	case
24	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	25 floor	det
25	floor	floor	NOUN	Number=Sing	22 down	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	stand down in a quote	infinitive				vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	mean	present				vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
3	leave	infinitive		the witness box		vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent box=Theme
4	take	present	the Hatter	box	literally property	vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme
5	try	present	the Hatter not said here			vn try-61.1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality
6	get not said to happen	to-infinitive	the Hatter not said here		down, low property	vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Experiencer

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

«Stand down» means leave the witness box, but the Hatter takes it as get lower

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	«	«	PUNCT	_	2 Stand	punct
2	Stand	stand	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	5 means	csubj
3	down	down	ADP	_	2 Stand	compound:prt
4	»	»	PUNCT	_	2 Stand	punct
5	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
6	leave	leave	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	5 means	ccomp
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 box	det
8	witness	witness	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 box	compound
9	box	box	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 leave	obj
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	14 takes	punct
11	but	but	CCONJ	_	14 takes	cc
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 Hatter	det
13	Hatter	Hatter	PROPN	Number=Sing	14 takes	nsubj
14	takes	take	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 means	conj
15	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	17 get	nsubj
16	as	as	ADV	_	17 get	advmod
17	get	get	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	14 takes	ccomp
18	lower	low	ADJ	Degree=Cmp	14 takes	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	stand down in a quote	infinitive				vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent
2	mean	present				vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic
3	leave	infinitive		the witness box		vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent box=Theme
4	take	present	the Hatter		low property	vn require-103 «NP V for NP S_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Precondition
5	get	present	Hatter			vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Experiencer

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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