---
title: Ascertain the precaution observed by the protagonist prior to the co… — Alice in Wonderland, chapter I, part 2… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the precaution observed by the protagonist prior to the consumption of the contents of the bottle. Exam question 2 of lesson 2 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter I, part 2: The hall of doors, DRINK ME and EAT ME» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmat
---

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# Exam question 2 · Alice in Wonderland, chapter I, part 2: The hall of doors,…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the precaution observed by the protagonist prior to the consumption of the contents of the bottle.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, observe, consume · **To what, where:** precaution, contents

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 2 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter I, part 2: The hall of doors, DRINK ME and EAT ME» 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/2-alice-ch1-part2-the-little-door/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2-alice-ch1-part2-the-little-door:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the precaution observed by the protagonist prior to the consumption of the contents of the bottle.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	precaution	precaution	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	observed	observe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	protagonist	protagonist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	prior	prior	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	11	case	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	fixed	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	consumption	consumption	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	contents	contents	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	11	nmod	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	bottle	bottle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	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 precaution |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent precaution=Topic |
| 2 | **observe** | participle |  | the precaution *not said here* |  |  |  | by the protagonist prior the consumption of the contents of the bottle | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **consume** |  |  | the contents of the bottle |  |  |  |  | nom consumption «act transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She requested the Rabbit's permission to drink

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2-alice-ch1-part2-the-little-door:e2:o1:1
# text = She requested the Rabbit's permission to drink
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	requested	request	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Rabbit	Rabbit	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	's	's	PART	POS	_	4	case	_	_
6	permission	permission	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	drink	drink	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	acl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **request** | past | She | the Rabbit's permission |  |  |  |  | vn beg-58.2 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent permission=Recipient |
| 2 | **drink** | to-infinitive | She *not said here* | the Rabbit's permission *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **permit** |  | the Rabbit |  |  |  |  |  | nom permission «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She awaited the advice of her elder sister

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2-alice-ch1-part2-the-little-door:e2:o2:1
# text = She awaited the advice of her elder sister
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	awaited	await	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	advice	advice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	elder	elder	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	sister	sister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **await** | past | She | the advice of her elder sister |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She examined it for the word "poison"

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2-alice-ch1-part2-the-little-door:e2:o3:1
# text = She examined it for the word "poison"
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	examined	examine	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	poison	poison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **examine** | past | She | it |  |  |  | for the word | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent it=Theme for word=Attribute |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She first poured a quantity upon the floor

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:2-alice-ch1-part2-the-little-door:e2:o4:1
# text = She first poured a quantity upon the floor
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	3	advmod	_	_
3	poured	pour	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	quantity	quantity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	floor	floor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pour** | past | She | a quantity |  |  |  | upon the floor; first *property* | vn preparing-26.3-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent quantity=Patient |

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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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- ← previous: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter I, part 2…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/2-alice-ch1-part2-the-little-door/e1/)
- next →: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter I, part 2…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/2-alice-ch1-part2-the-little-door/e3/)
- ↑ back to [Alice in Wonderland, chapter I, part 2: The hall of doors, DRINK ME and EAT ME](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/2-alice-ch1-part2-the-little-door/)