Exam question 3 · The Wind in the Willows, chapter VI, part 4: Mr. Toad (the…

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the circumstances in which Toad gained possession of the motor-car?

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 2 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: Toad · What happens: follow, characteris, gain, possess · To what, where: circumstances, possession, motor car

This is exam question 3 of lesson 48 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter VI, part 4: Mr. Toad (the car in the inn-yard, twenty years, and the deepest dungeon)» of the books 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.

The question

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 characterises	nsubj
2	of	of	ADP	_	5 statements	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 statements	det
4	following	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 statements	amod
5	statements	statement	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 characterises	obl
6	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	7 accurately	advmod
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	_	8 characterises	advmod
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 circumstances	det
10	circumstances	circumstance	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 characterises	obj
11	in	in	ADP	_	12 which	case
12	which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	14 gained	obl
13	Toad	Toad	PROPN	Number=Sing	14 gained	nsubj
14	gained	gain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	10 circumstances	acl:relcl
15	possession	possession	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 gained	obj
16	of	of	ADP	_	20 car	case
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	20 car	det
18	motor	motor	NOUN	Number=Sing	20 car	compound
19	-	-	PUNCT	_	18 motor	punct
20	car	car	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 possession	nmod
21	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the circumstances	of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules
3	gain	past	Toad	possession of the motor car	in the circumstances	vn calibratable_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.patient V PP.attribute NP.extent PP.source PP.goal»: agent=Patient possession=Extent in which=Attribute
4	possess			the motor car		nom possession «act transitive»: of=patient

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

Option 1

He found the car at the inn and quietly took it home

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 found	nsubj
2	found	find	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 car	det
4	car	car	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 found	obj
5	at	at	ADP	_	7 inn	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 inn	det
7	inn	inn	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 found	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 took	cc
9	quietly	quietly	ADV	_	10 took	advmod
10	took	take	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 found	conj
11	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	10 took	obj
12	home	home	ADV	_	10 took	advmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	find	past	He	the car		the inn			vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.source NP.asset»: agent=Agent car=Theme at inn=Asset
2	take	past	He not said here	car				home, quietly property	vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme

Option 2 · ✓ the right answer

He started and drove off a car left unattended in an inn-yard

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 started	nsubj
2	started	start	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	and	and	CCONJ	_	4 drove	cc
4	drove	drive	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 started	conj
5	off	off	ADP	_	4 drove	compound:prt
6	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	7 car	det
7	car	car	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 drove	obj
8	left	leave	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	7 car	acl
9	unattended	unattended	ADJ	Degree=Pos	8 left	xcomp
10	in	in	ADP	_	14 yard	case
11	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	14 yard	det
12	inn	inn	NOUN	Number=Sing	14 yard	compound
13	-	-	PUNCT	_	12 inn	punct
14	yard	yard	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 left	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	start	past	He			vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality
2	drive off	past	He not said here	a car		vn nonvehicle-51.4.2-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme car=Trajectory
3	leave	participle		a car not said here	in a inn yard result; unattended property	vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient in yard=Result

Option 3

He was lent the car by the inn's owner for the day

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	3 lent	nsubj
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 lent	aux:pass
3	lent	lend	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
4	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 car	det
5	car	car	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 lent	obj
6	by	by	ADP	_	10 owner	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 inn	det
8	inn	inn	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 owner	nmod:poss
9	's	's	PART	_	8 inn	case
10	owner	owner	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 lent	obl
11	for	for	ADP	_	13 day	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 day	det
13	day	day	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 lent	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	lend	past · passive	the inn's owner	He			day		vn give-13.1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent subject=Recipient car=Theme

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice

He climbed into a car that belonged to a neighbouring farmer, started it and then drove off down the road to the north

The tree, 23 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	He	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	2 climbed	nsubj
2	climbed	climb	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	into	into	ADP	_	5 car	case
4	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	5 car	det
5	car	car	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 climbed	obl
6	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	7 belonged	nsubj
7	belonged	belong	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	5 car	acl:relcl
8	to	to	ADP	_	11 farmer	case
9	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	11 farmer	det
10	neighbouring	neighbour	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	11 farmer	amod
11	farmer	farmer	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 belonged	obl
12	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 started	punct
13	started	start	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 climbed	conj
14	it	it	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	13 started	obj
15	and	and	CCONJ	_	17 drove	cc
16	then	then	ADV	PronType=Dem	17 drove	advmod
17	drove	drive	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	2 climbed	conj
18	off	off	ADP	_	17 drove	compound:prt
19	down	down	ADP	_	21 road	case
20	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	21 road	det
21	road	road	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 drove	obl
22	to	to	ADP	_	24 north	case
23	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	24 north	det
24	north	north	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 drove	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	climb	past	He		a car			vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme into car=Destination
2	belong	past	a car				to a neighbouring farmer	vn attend-107.4-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme
3	neighbour	gerund						tree rules
4	start	past	He not said here	farmer				vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Eventuality
5	drive off	past	He not said here		the road	then	to the north	vn nonvehicle-51.4.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent down road=Trajectory

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/48-willows-ch6-part4-twenty-years-in-the-dungeon/e3/