---
title: Ascertain the reason for which the Pigeon identified the protagonist… — Alice in Wonderland, chapter V, part 2… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which the Pigeon identified the protagonist as a serpent. Exam question 2 of lesson 10 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter V, part 2: The mushroom, the long neck and the Pigeon» 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 V, part 2: The mushroom, the…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which the Pigeon identified the protagonist as a serpent.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, Pigeon · **What happens:** ascertain, identify · **To what, where:** reason, protagonist

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 10 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter V, part 2: The mushroom, the long neck and the Pigeon» 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/10-alice-ch5-part2-the-pigeon/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:10-alice-ch5-part2-the-pigeon:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which the Pigeon identified the protagonist as a serpent.
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	Pigeon	Pigeon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	identified	identify	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	protagonist	protagonist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	as	as	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	serpent	serpent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	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 | **identify** | past | the Pigeon | the protagonist |  |  |  | for the reason; as a serpent | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent protagonist=Theme as serpent=Attribute |

<!-- .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 -->
The excessive length of her neck and her presence among the treetops

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:10-alice-ch5-part2-the-pigeon:e2:o1:1
# text = The excessive length of her neck and her presence among the treetops
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	excessive	excessive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	length	length	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	neck	neck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	presence	presence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
10	among	among	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	treetops	treetop	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her neck was excessively long, and she was standing among the treetops where only birds usually live

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:10-alice-ch5-part2-the-pigeon:e2:o2:1
# text = Her neck was excessively long, and she was standing among the treetops where only birds usually live
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	neck	neck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	excessively	excessively	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
8	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	standing	stand	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	conj	_	_
11	among	among	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	treetops	treetop	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	_
14	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	18	advmod	_	_
15	only	only	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	nsubj	_	_
17	usually	usually	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	live	live	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Her neck |  |  |  |  | excessively, long *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **stand** | past · progressive | she |  |  | the treetops |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent among treetop=Location |
| 3 | **live** | present | birds |  |  |  |  | usually *property* | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because the excessive length of her neck meant that she had to be a serpent, which every bird knows well

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:10-alice-ch5-part2-the-pigeon:e2:o3:1
# text = Because the excessive length of her neck meant that she had to be a serpent, which every bird knows well
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	excessive	excessive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	length	length	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	neck	neck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	meant	mean	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	ccomp	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
13	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	cop	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	serpent	serpent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
17	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	20	obj	_	_
18	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	19	det	_	_
19	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nsubj	_	_
20	knows	know	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	acl:relcl	_	_
21	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	20	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | past | the excessive length of length's neck |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **have** | past | length |  |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is a** | to-infinitive |  | a serpent |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **know** | present | every bird | a serpent |  |  |  | well *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer which=Stimulus |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The colour of her dress and the noise of her feet in the wood

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:10-alice-ch5-part2-the-pigeon:e2:o4:1
# text = The colour of her dress and the noise of her feet in the wood
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	colour	colour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	dress	dress	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	noise	noise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	feet	foot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **noise** |  | her feet |  |  |  |  |  | nom noise «event intransitive»: of=agent |

<!-- 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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- ← previous: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter V, part 2…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/10-alice-ch5-part2-the-pigeon/e1/)
- next →: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter V, part 2…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/10-alice-ch5-part2-the-pigeon/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Alice in Wonderland, chapter V, part 2: The mushroom, the long neck and the Pigeon](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/10-alice-ch5-part2-the-pigeon/)