Test 15 · ★★ · The Wind in the Willows, chapter II, part 1: The Open Road…

★★★ «just under where their chins would be if ducks had chins». What is the joke?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 4 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: chins, joke · What happens: be

This is test 15 · ★★ of lesson 29 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter II, part 1: The Open Road (the Ducks' Ditty, and a visit to Toad Hall)» 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: ★★★ «just under where their chins would be if ducks had chins».

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	★	★	PROPN	Number=Sing	root	root
2	★	★	X	Foreign=Yes	1 ★	dep
3	★	★	X	Foreign=Yes	1 ★	dep
4	«	«	PUNCT	_	7 where	punct
5	just	just	ADV	_	7 where	advmod
6	under	under	ADP	_	7 where	case
7	where	where	ADV	PronType=Rel	3 ★	acl:relcl
8	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	9 chins	nmod:poss
9	chins	chin	NOUN	Number=Plur	14 had	nsubj
10	would	would	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	14 had	aux
11	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	14 had	cop
12	if	if	SCONJ	_	14 had	mark
13	ducks	duck	NOUN	Number=Plur	14 had	nsubj
14	had	have	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	7 where	ccomp
15	chins	chin	NOUN	Number=Plur	14 had	obj
16	»	»	PUNCT	_	14 had	punct
17	.	.	PUNCT	_	1 ★	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is in a quote	would	their chins					have property	tree rules

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 · ← Mova's choice

It's a joke about the Mole's chin, which the ducks have been staring at all morning

The tree, 18 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	It	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	4 joke	nsubj
2	's	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 joke	cop
3	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	4 joke	det
4	joke	joke	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
5	about	about	ADP	_	9 chin	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 Mole	det
7	Mole	mole	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 chin	nmod:poss
8	's	's	PART	_	7 Mole	case
9	chin	chin	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 joke	nmod
10	,	,	PUNCT	_	16 staring	punct
11	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	16 staring	nsubj
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 ducks	det
13	ducks	duck	NOUN	Number=Plur	16 staring	nsubj
14	have	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	16 staring	aux
15	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	16 staring	aux
16	staring	stare	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	4 joke	advcl
17	at	at	ADP	_	19 morning	case
18	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	19 morning	det
19	morning	morning	NOUN	Number=Sing	16 staring	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a joke				about the Mole's chin	tree rules
2	stare	present · perfect · progressive	a joke				morning		vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent

Option 2

Ducks have chins, but the Rat is tickling a place under the water where no duck would ever want to be tickled by anyone

The tree, 24 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Ducks	duck	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 have	nsubj
2	have	have	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	chins	chin	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 have	obj
4	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 tickling	punct
5	but	but	CCONJ	_	9 tickling	cc
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 Rat	det
7	Rat	Rat	PROPN	Number=Sing	9 tickling	nsubj
8	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	9 tickling	aux
9	tickling	tickle	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	2 have	advcl
10	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 place	det
11	place	place	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 tickling	obj
12	under	under	ADP	_	14 water	case
13	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	14 water	det
14	water	water	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 tickling	obl
15	where	where	ADV	PronType=Rel	20 want	advmod
16	no	no	DET	PronType=Neg	17 duck	det
17	duck	duck	NOUN	Number=Sing	20 want	nsubj
18	would	would	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	20 want	aux
19	ever	ever	ADV	PronType=Ind	20 want	advmod
20	want	want	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	9 tickling	advcl
21	to	to	PART	_	23 tickled	mark
22	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	23 tickled	aux:pass
23	tickled	tickle	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	20 want	xcomp
24	by	by	ADP	_	25 anyone	case
25	anyone	anyone	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Ind	23 tickled	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	roles by
1	have	present	Ducks	chins			vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent chin=Patient
2	tickle	present · progressive	the Rat	a place	the water		vn touch-20-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent place=Experiencer
3	want	would	no duck			ever	vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme
4	tickle not said to happen	to-infinitive · passive	anyone				vn tingle-40.8.2 «NP V»: agent=Patient

Option 3

The Rat is making a silly joke about where the ducks' necks really are

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 Rat	det
2	Rat	Rat	PROPN	Number=Sing	4 making	nsubj
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 making	aux
4	making	make	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	root	root
5	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 joke	det
6	silly	silly	ADJ	Degree=Pos	7 joke	amod
7	joke	joke	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 making	obj
8	about	about	SCONJ	_	9 where	mark
9	where	where	ADV	PronType=Rel	7 joke	nmod
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 ducks	det
11	ducks	duck	NOUN	Number=Plur	13 necks	nmod:poss
12	'	's	PART	_	11 ducks	case
13	necks	neck	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 where	nsubj
14	really	really	ADV	_	9 where	advmod
15	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 making	cop

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

Option 4 · ✓ the right answer

Ducks don't have chins, so the Rat tickles a place that doesn't exist

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Ducks	duck	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 have	nsubj
2	do	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 have	aux
3	n't	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	4 have	advmod
4	have	have	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	root	root
5	chins	chin	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 have	obj
6	,	,	PUNCT	_	10 tickles	punct
7	so	so	ADV	_	10 tickles	advmod
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 Rat	det
9	Rat	Rat	PROPN	Number=Sing	10 tickles	nsubj
10	tickles	tickle	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 have	parataxis
11	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 place	det
12	place	place	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 tickles	obj
13	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	16 exist	nsubj
14	does	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	16 exist	aux
15	n't	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	16 exist	advmod
16	exist	exist	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	12 place	acl:relcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	roles by
1	not have	present · do-support	Ducks	chins	vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent chin=Patient
2	tickle	present	the Rat	a place	vn touch-20-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent place=Experiencer
3	not exist	present · do-support	a place		vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme

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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