Test 16 · ★★★ · The Wind in the Willows, chapter VI, part 4: Mr. Toad (the…

★★★ «The remotest dungeon of the best-guarded keep of the stoutest castle in all … Merry England.» Why stack up so many «-est» words?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 1 · right ✓ · Who acts: you · What happens: guard, keep, stack up · To what, where: stoutest castle, many est words

This is test 16 · ★★★ 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. 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: ★★★ «The remotest dungeon of the best-guarded keep of the stoutest castle in all …

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 dungeon	punct
5	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 dungeon	det
6	remotest	remote	ADJ	Degree=Sup	7 dungeon	amod
7	dungeon	dungeon	NOUN	Number=Sing	1 ★	appos
8	of	of	ADP	_	13 keep	case
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 keep	det
10	best	good	ADJ	Degree=Sup	13 keep	amod
11	-	-	PUNCT	_	10 best	punct
12	guarded	guard	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	13 keep	amod
13	keep	keep	NOUN	Number=Sing	7 dungeon	nmod
14	of	of	ADP	_	17 castle	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	17 castle	det
16	stoutest	stout	ADJ	Degree=Sup	17 castle	amod
17	castle	castle	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 keep	nmod
18	in	in	ADP	_	19 all	case
19	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	17 castle	nmod
20	…	.	PUNCT	_	1 ★	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	guard in a quote	participle							vn defend-72.3 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Agent
2	keep in a quote			the stoutest castle in all					nom keep «possession 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.

Sentence 2: Merry England.»

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Merry	Merry	PROPN	Number=Sing	2 England	compound
2	England	England	PROPN	Number=Sing	root	root
3	.	.	PUNCT	_	2 England	punct
4	»	»	PUNCT	_	2 England	punct

The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

Sentence 3: Why stack up so many «-est» words?

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Why	why	ADV	PronType=Int	2 stack	advmod
2	stack	stack	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	up	up	ADP	_	2 stack	compound:prt
4	so	so	ADV	_	5 many	advmod
5	many	many	ADJ	Degree=Pos	10 words	amod
6	«	«	PUNCT	_	8 est	punct
7	-	-	PUNCT	_	8 est	punct
8	est	est	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 words	compound
9	»	»	PUNCT	_	8 est	punct
10	words	word	NOUN	Number=Plur	2 stack	obj
11	?	?	PUNCT	_	2 stack	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	stack up	imperative	you not said here	many est words					vn spray-9.7-2 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent word=Theme

The options

Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer

A joke — it makes Toad's prison sound as huge and grim as possible

The tree, 14 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 joke	det
2	joke	joke	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 makes	nsubj
3	—	-	PUNCT	_	2 joke	punct
4	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	5 makes	nsubj
5	makes	make	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
6	Toad	Toad	PROPN	Number=Sing	9 sound	nmod:poss
7	's	's	PART	_	6 Toad	case
8	prison	prison	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 sound	compound
9	sound	sound	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 makes	obj
10	as	as	ADP	_	11 huge	case
11	huge	huge	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 makes	obl
12	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 grim	cc
13	grim	grim	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 huge	conj
14	as	as	SCONJ	_	15 possible	mark
15	possible	possible	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 grim	advcl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	make	present	a joke	Toad's prison sound				as huge	vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset sound=Product

Option 2

It's a joke that makes the dungeon sound enormous, a sign that the writer dislikes long sentences and wants us to notice

The tree, 23 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	that	that	PRON	PronType=Rel	6 makes	nsubj
6	makes	make	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	4 joke	acl:relcl
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 dungeon	det
8	dungeon	dungeon	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 makes	obj
9	sound	sound	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	6 makes	xcomp
10	enormous	enormous	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 sound	xcomp
11	,	,	PUNCT	_	13 sign	punct
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 sign	det
13	sign	sign	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 joke	appos
14	that	that	SCONJ	_	17 dislikes	mark
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 writer	det
16	writer	writer	NOUN	Number=Sing	17 dislikes	nsubj
17	dislikes	dislike	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	13 sign	acl:relcl
18	long	long	ADJ	Degree=Pos	19 sentences	amod
19	sentences	sentence	NOUN	Number=Plur	17 dislikes	obj
20	and	and	CCONJ	_	21 wants	cc
21	wants	want	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	17 dislikes	conj
22	us	we	PRON	Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=1 PronType=Prs	21 wants	obj
23	to	to	PART	_	24 notice	mark
24	notice	notice	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	21 wants	xcomp

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	is a	present	It	a joke		tree rules
2	make	present	a joke	the dungeon		tree rules
3	sound	infinitive	the dungeon not said here		enormous property	vn stimulus_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus
4	dislike	present	the writer	long sentences		vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer sentence=Stimulus
5	want	present	the writer not said here	us		tree rules
6	notice not said to happen	to-infinitive	us not said here			vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Experiencer

Option 3

A joke — it makes Toad's prison sound as huge and grim as possible, so the reader laughs at the castle and its keepers

The tree, 24 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	A	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	2 joke	det
2	joke	joke	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 makes	nsubj
3	—	-	PUNCT	_	2 joke	punct
4	it	it	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	5 makes	nsubj
5	makes	make	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
6	Toad	Toad	PROPN	Number=Sing	9 sound	nmod:poss
7	's	's	PART	_	6 Toad	case
8	prison	prison	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 sound	compound
9	sound	sound	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 makes	obj
10	as	as	ADP	_	11 huge	case
11	huge	huge	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 sound	nmod
12	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 grim	cc
13	grim	grim	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 huge	conj
14	as	as	SCONJ	_	15 possible	mark
15	possible	possible	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 grim	advcl
16	,	,	PUNCT	_	20 laughs	punct
17	so	so	ADV	_	20 laughs	advmod
18	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	19 reader	det
19	reader	reader	NOUN	Number=Sing	20 laughs	nsubj
20	laughs	laugh	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 makes	conj
21	at	at	ADP	_	23 castle	case
22	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	23 castle	det
23	castle	castle	NOUN	Number=Sing	20 laughs	obl
24	and	and	CCONJ	_	26 keepers	cc
25	its	its	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	26 keepers	nmod:poss
26	keepers	keeper	NOUN	Number=Plur	23 castle	conj

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	make	present	a joke	Toad's prison sound				as huge	vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset sound=Product
2	laugh	present	the reader			the castle and reader's keepers			vn nonverbal_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Option 4

To make the reader feel sorry for the Chairman's sums

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	To	to	PART	_	2 make	mark
2	make	make	VERB	Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin	root	root
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	4 reader	det
4	reader	reader	NOUN	Number=Sing	2 make	obj
5	feel	feel	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	2 make	xcomp
6	sorry	sorry	ADJ	Degree=Pos	5 feel	xcomp
7	for	for	ADP	_	11 sums	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 Chairman	det
9	Chairman	Chairman	PROPN	Number=Sing	11 sums	nmod:poss
10	's	's	PART	_	9 Chairman	case
11	sums	sum	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 sorry	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	make	to-infinitive		the reader		tree rules
2	feel	infinitive	the reader not said here		sorry property	vn stimulus_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus
3	sum		the Chairman			nom sum «possession transitive»: poss=agent

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/t16/