Test 14 · ★★★ · The Wind in the Willows, chapter V, part 1: Dulce Domum (t…

Nate from Toronto, in his toque (woolly hat): «why does the writer go on about «smell», it's just a sniff, eh?» What is the writer saying?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: writer · What happens: go on, be, say · To what, where: sniff · Speech: someone speaks here

This is test 14 · ★★★ of lesson 41 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter V, part 1: Dulce Domum (the village windows and the call of home)» 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: Nate from Toronto, in his toque (woolly hat): «why does the writer go on about «smell», it's just a sniff, eh?»

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Nate	Nate	PROPN	Number=Sing	root	root
2	from	from	ADP	_	3 Toronto	case
3	Toronto	Toronto	PROPN	Number=Sing	1 Nate	nmod
4	,	,	PUNCT	_	7 toque	punct
5	in	in	ADP	_	7 toque	case
6	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	7 toque	nmod:poss
7	toque	toque	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 Nate	appos
8	(	(	PUNCT	_	10 hat	punct
9	woolly	woolly	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 hat	amod
10	hat	hat	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 toque	appos
11	)	)	PUNCT	_	10 hat	punct
12	:	:	PUNCT	_	18 go	punct
13	«	«	PUNCT	_	18 go	punct
14	why	why	ADV	PronType=Int	18 go	advmod
15	does	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	18 go	aux
16	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 writer	det
17	writer	writer	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 go	nsubj
18	go	go	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	1 Nate	parataxis
19	on	on	ADV	_	18 go	advmod
20	about	about	ADP	_	22 smell	case
21	«	«	PUNCT	_	22 smell	punct
22	smell	smell	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 go	obl
23	»	»	PUNCT	_	22 smell	punct
24	,	,	PUNCT	_	29 sniff	punct
25	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	29 sniff	nsubj
26	's	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	29 sniff	cop
27	just	just	ADV	_	29 sniff	advmod
28	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	29 sniff	det
29	sniff	sniff	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 go	obl
30	,	,	PUNCT	_	31 eh	punct
31	eh	eh	INTJ	_	18 go	discourse
32	?	?	PUNCT	_	18 go	punct
33	»	»	PUNCT	_	18 go	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	go on in a quote	present · do-support	the writer					about smell	vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme about smell=Location
2	is a in a quote	present	writer	a sniff					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 writer saying?

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

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

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	say speech: assert	present · progressive	the writer						vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent what=Topic

The options

Option 1 · ← Mova's choice

The writer is saying that the sniff is just a fancy way to describe what people think is a dull bit of nosing about in the cold

The tree, 27 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 writer	det
2	writer	writer	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 saying	nsubj
3	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 saying	aux
4	saying	say	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	12 way	csubj
5	that	that	SCONJ	_	7 sniff	mark
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 sniff	det
7	sniff	sniff	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 saying	ccomp
8	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	12 way	cop
9	just	just	ADV	_	12 way	advmod
10	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 way	det
11	fancy	fancy	ADJ	Degree=Pos	12 way	amod
12	way	way	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 bit	nsubj
13	to	to	PART	_	14 describe	mark
14	describe	describe	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	12 way	acl
15	what	what	PRON	PronType=Int	17 think	obj
16	people	people	NOUN	Number=Plur	17 think	nsubj
17	think	think	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	14 describe	ccomp
18	is	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	21 bit	cop
19	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	21 bit	det
20	dull	dull	ADJ	Degree=Pos	21 bit	amod
21	bit	bit	NOUN	Number=Sing	root	root
22	of	of	SCONJ	_	23 nosing	mark
23	nosing	nose	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	21 bit	acl
24	about	about	ADV	_	23 nosing	advmod
25	in	in	ADP	_	27 cold	case
26	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	27 cold	det
27	cold	cold	NOUN	Number=Sing	23 nosing	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	say speech: assert	present · progressive	the writer				vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent
2	is a	present	saying	a fancy way			tree rules
3	describe	to-infinitive	a fancy way not said here				vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V what S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
4	think speech: other	present	people				vn wish-62 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot what=Theme
5	is a	present	a fancy way	a dull bit			tree rules
6	nose about	gerund	a dull bit not said here		the cold	about property	vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme in cold=Trajectory

Option 2

Animals feel far more through the nose than we have words for, and a smell can carry a whole life of memories

The tree, 22 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Animals	animal	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 feel	nsubj
2	feel	feel	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	far	far	ADV	Degree=Pos	4 more	advmod
4	more	more	ADV	Degree=Cmp	2 feel	advmod
5	through	through	ADP	_	7 nose	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 nose	det
7	nose	nose	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 feel	obl
8	than	than	SCONJ	_	10 have	mark
9	we	we	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=1 PronType=Prs	10 have	nsubj
10	have	have	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 feel	advcl
11	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 have	obj
12	for	for	ADP	_	11 words	nmod
13	,	,	PUNCT	_	18 carry	punct
14	and	and	CCONJ	_	18 carry	cc
15	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	16 smell	det
16	smell	smell	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 carry	nsubj
17	can	can	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	18 carry	aux
18	carry	carry	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 feel	conj
19	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	21 life	det
20	whole	whole	ADJ	Degree=Pos	21 life	amod
21	life	life	NOUN	Number=Sing	18 carry	obj
22	of	of	ADP	_	23 memories	case
23	memories	memory	NOUN	Number=Plur	21 life	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	roles by
1	feel	present	Animals		the nose	vn hunt-35.1 «NP V PP.theme PP.location»: agent=Agent through nose=Location
2	have	present	we	words		vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Patient
3	carry	can	a smell	a whole life of memories		vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent life=Theme

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

Animals feel far more through the nose than we have words for

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Animals	animal	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 feel	nsubj
2	feel	feel	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	far	far	ADV	Degree=Pos	4 more	advmod
4	more	more	ADV	Degree=Cmp	2 feel	advmod
5	through	through	ADP	_	7 nose	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 nose	det
7	nose	nose	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 feel	obl
8	than	than	SCONJ	_	10 have	mark
9	we	we	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=1 PronType=Prs	10 have	nsubj
10	have	have	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	2 feel	advcl
11	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 have	obj
12	for	for	ADP	_	10 have	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	feel	present	Animals			the nose			vn hunt-35.1 «NP V PP.theme PP.location»: agent=Agent through nose=Location
2	have	present	we	words					vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Patient

Option 4

The writer means animals are not very clever at all

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 writer	det
2	writer	writer	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 means	nsubj
3	means	mean	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	animals	animal	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 clever	nsubj
5	are	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	8 clever	cop
6	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	8 clever	advmod
7	very	very	ADV	_	8 clever	advmod
8	clever	clever	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 means	ccomp
9	at	at	ADP	_	10 all	case
10	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	8 clever	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	mean	present	the writer						vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent
2	not is	present	animals			all		clever property	tree rules

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.

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/41-willows-ch5-part1-the-call-of-home/t14/