---
title: Why is Alice's «rule» about pepper and barley-sugar a funny one? — Alice in Wonderland, chapter IX, part… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is Alice's «rule» about pepper and barley-sugar a funny one? Test 2 · ★★ of lesson 17 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter IX, part 1: The Mock Turtle's Story (the Duchess and her morals)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each 
---

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# Test 2 · ★★ · Alice in Wonderland, chapter IX, part 1: The Mock Turtle's…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is Alice's «rule» about pepper and barley-sugar a funny one?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** rule, Alice · **What happens:** be, rule

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 2 · ★★ of lesson 17 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter IX, part 1: The Mock Turtle's Story (the Duchess and her morals)» 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/17-alice-the-mock-turtles-story-1/#t2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:17-alice-the-mock-turtles-story-1:t2:1
# text = Why is Alice's «rule» about pepper and barley-sugar a funny one?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	Alice	Alice	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	rule	rule	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
8	about	about	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	pepper	pepper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	barley	barley	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	sugar	sugar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	funny	funny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Alice's rule about pepper and barley sugar |  |  |  |  | why *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **rule** *in a quote* |  | Alice |  |  |  |  | about pepper and barley sugar | nom rule «cognition intransitive»: poss=agent about=obl |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her rule is a true one

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:17-alice-the-mock-turtles-story-1:t2:o1:1
# text = Her rule is a true one
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	rule	rule	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Her rule | a true one |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **rule** |  | Her *= she* |  |  |  |  |  | nom rule «cognition intransitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She invents a «rule» from one guess, and sour, bitter and sweet are both tastes and moods

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:17-alice-the-mock-turtles-story-1:t2:o2:1
# text = She invents a «rule» from one guess, and sour, bitter and sweet are both tastes and moods
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	invents	invent	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	rule	rule	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	guess	guess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	sour	sour	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	bitter	bitter	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	conj	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	sweet	sweet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	conj	_	_
17	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
18	both	both	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	tastes	taste	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
21	moods	mood	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **invent** | present | She | a rule |  | one guess |  |  | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP PP.material»: agent=Agent rule=Result from guess=Material |
| 2 | **is a** | present |  | sour both tastes and moods |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is about pepper

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:17-alice-the-mock-turtles-story-1:t2:o3:1
# text = It is about pepper
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	about	about	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	pepper	pepper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | about pepper | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a rule about cooks and soups and nothing else

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:17-alice-the-mock-turtles-story-1:t2:o4:1
# text = It is a rule about cooks and soups and nothing else
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	rule	rule	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	about	about	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	cooks	cook	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	soups	soup	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	conj	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	6	conj	_	_
11	else	else	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a rule |  |  |  | about cooks and soups | tree rules |

<!-- 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 IX, part…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/17-alice-the-mock-turtles-story-1/t1/)
- next →: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter IX, part…, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/17-alice-the-mock-turtles-story-1/t3/)
- ↑ back to [Alice in Wonderland, chapter IX, part 1: The Mock Turtle's Story (the Duchess and her morals)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/17-alice-the-mock-turtles-story-1/)