---
title: Ascertain the reason for which the protagonist declined to release t… — Alice in Wonderland, chapter I, part 1… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which the protagonist declined to release the jar during her descent. Exam question 2 of lesson 1 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter I, part 1: Down the Rabbit-Hole (the fall)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question a
---

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# Exam question 2 · Alice in Wonderland, chapter I, part 1: Down the Rabbit-Ho…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which the protagonist declined to release the jar during her descent.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, protagonist · **What happens:** ascertain, decline, not release, descend · **To what, where:** reason, jar

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 1 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter I, part 1: Down the Rabbit-Hole (the fall)» 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/1-alice-ch1-part1-down-the-rabbit-hole/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1-alice-ch1-part1-down-the-rabbit-hole:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which the protagonist declined to release the jar during her descent.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	obl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	protagonist	protagonist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	declined	decline	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	release	release	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	jar	jar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	during	during	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	descent	descent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **decline** | past | the protagonist |  |  |  |  | for the reason | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 3 | **not** **release** | to-infinitive | the protagonist *not said here* | the jar |  |  | during protagonist's descent |  | vn free-10.6.3-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Causer jar=Source |
| 4 | **descend** |  | protagonist |  |  |  |  |  | nom descent «event intransitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .note -->
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 {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Apprehension that it might cause the death of a person below

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1-alice-ch1-part1-down-the-rabbit-hole:e2:o1:1
# text = Apprehension that it might cause the death of a person below
1	Apprehension	apprehension	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	cause	cause	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	acl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
11	below	below	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | might | Apprehension | the death of a person |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition death=Patient |
| 2 | **die** |  | a person |  |  |  |  |  | nom death «event intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Apprehension that it might strike and kill a person standing on the floor at the bottom of the well, which would be dreadful

<!-- fold The tree, 23 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1-alice-ch1-part1-down-the-rabbit-hole:e2:o2:1
# text = Apprehension that it might strike and kill a person standing on the floor at the bottom of the well, which would be dreadful
1	Apprehension	apprehension	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	strike	strike	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	acl	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	kill	kill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	standing	stand	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	acl	_	_
11	on	on	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	floor	floor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
14	at	at	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	bottom	bottom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	well	well	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
21	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	24	nsubj	_	_
22	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	24	aux	_	_
23	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	24	cop	_	_
24	dreadful	dreadful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **strike** | might | Apprehension | Apprehension *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent apprehension=Patient |
| 2 | **kill** | infinitive | Apprehension *not said here* | a person |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent person=Theme |
| 3 | **stand** | gerund | a person *not said here* |  |  | the floor |  | at the bottom of the well | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent on floor=Location |
| 4 | **is** | would | the well |  |  |  |  | dreadful *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Fear that the jar would be lost, since she intended to bring it back to the kitchen and put it safely on the shelf

<!-- fold The tree, 24 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1-alice-ch1-part1-down-the-rabbit-hole:e2:o3:1
# text = Fear that the jar would be lost, since she intended to bring it back to the kitchen and put it safely on the shelf
1	Fear	fear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj:outer	_	_
2	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	jar	jar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	lost	lose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	intended	intend	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	bring	bring	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	xcomp	_	_
14	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	_
15	back	back	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
16	to	to	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	kitchen	kitchen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
20	put	put	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	conj	_	_
21	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	obj	_	_
22	safely	safely	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
23	on	on	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	shelf	shelf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lose** | would · passive | Fear *not said here* | the jar |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality |
| 2 | **intend** | past | Fear |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **bring back** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Fear *not said here* | jar |  | the kitchen |  |  | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent it=Theme to kitchen=Destination |
| 4 | **put** | infinitive | Fear *not said here* | jar |  | the shelf |  | safely *property* | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V PP.destination NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme on shelf=Destination |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Worry that it might break and spill a sticky mess below

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1-alice-ch1-part1-down-the-rabbit-hole:e2:o4:1
# text = Worry that it might break and spill a sticky mess below
1	Worry	worry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	break	break	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	acl	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	spill	spill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	sticky	sticky	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	mess	mess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
11	below	below	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **break** | might | Worry | Worry *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer worry=Patient |
| 2 | **spill** | infinitive | Worry *not said here* | a sticky mess |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location mess=Theme |

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ↑ back to [Alice in Wonderland, chapter I, part 1: Down the Rabbit-Hole (the fall)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/1-alice-ch1-part1-down-the-rabbit-hole/)