---
title: Looking back: in chapter III, the Mouse said a history lesson was «t… — Alice in Wonderland, chapter IX, part… · tree and pragmatics
description: Looking back: in chapter III, the Mouse said a history lesson was «the driest thing I know». Why did he recite it? Test 15 · ★★ of lesson 18 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter IX, part 2: The Mock Turtle's Story (school under the sea)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tre
---

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# Test 15 · ★★ · Alice in Wonderland, chapter IX, part 2: The Mock Turtle's…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Looking back: in chapter III, the Mouse said a history lesson was «the driest thing I know». Why did he recite it?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Mouse, history lesson · **What happens:** look back, say, be, know, recite · **To what, where:** driest thing, lesson · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 15 · ★★ of lesson 18 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter IX, part 2: The Mock Turtle's Story (school under the sea)» 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/18-alice-the-mock-turtles-story-2/#t15).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Looking back: in chapter III, the Mouse said a history lesson was «the driest thing I know».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:18-alice-the-mock-turtles-story-2:t15:1
# text = Looking back: in chapter III, the Mouse said a history lesson was «the driest thing I know».
1	Looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	10	advcl	_	_
2	back	back	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	5	punct	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	chapter	chapter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
6	III	III	NUM	CD	NumForm=Roman|NumType=Card	5	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	Mouse	mouse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	history	history	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	lesson	lesson	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
14	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
15	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	driest	dry	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	18	amod	_	_
18	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	ccomp	_	_
19	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
20	know	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look back** | gerund | the Mouse *not said here* |  |  |  |  | in chapter | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent in chapter=Theme |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the Mouse |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is a** *in a quote* | past | a history lesson | the driest thing |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **know** *in a quote* | present | the Mouse *= mouse* | the driest thing *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer thing=Stimulus |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Why did he recite it?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:18-alice-the-mock-turtles-story-2:t15:2
# text = Why did he recite it?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	recite	recite	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **recite** | past · do-support | Mouse | lesson |  |  |  |  | vn performance-26.7-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To dry everyone off after the pool of tears

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:18-alice-the-mock-turtles-story-2:t15:o1:1
# text = To dry everyone off after the pool of tears
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	dry	dry	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	everyone	everyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	2	obj	_	_
4	off	off	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
5	after	after	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	pool	pool	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	tears	tear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dry off** | to-infinitive |  | everyone |  |  | after the pool of tears | off *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Patient everyone=Result |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To be polite

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:18-alice-the-mock-turtles-story-2:t15:o2:1
# text = To be polite
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	3	mark	_	_
2	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	cop	_	_
3	polite	polite	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | polite *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To make the Duck laugh at the wet ground

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:18-alice-the-mock-turtles-story-2:t15:o3:1
# text = To make the Duck laugh at the wet ground
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	make	make	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Duck	duck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	laugh	laugh	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	wet	wet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | to-infinitive |  | the Duck |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **laugh** | infinitive | the Duck *not said here* |  |  | the wet ground |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To keep the Mouse awake in the cold water

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:18-alice-the-mock-turtles-story-2:t15:o4:1
# text = To keep the Mouse awake in the cold water
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	keep	keep	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Mouse	mouse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	awake	awake	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | to-infinitive |  | the Mouse |  | the cold water |  | awake *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent mouse=Theme in water=Location |

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**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.

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- ↑ back to [Alice in Wonderland, chapter IX, part 2: The Mock Turtle's Story (school under the sea)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/18-alice-the-mock-turtles-story-2/)