---
title: Looking back: in chapter II, Alice tried to say «How doth the little… — Alice in Wonderland, chapter X, part 2… · tree and pragmatics
description: Looking back: in chapter II, Alice tried to say «How doth the little busy bee». What came out? Test 11 · ★★ of lesson 20 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter X, part 2: The Lobster Quadrille (poems gone wrong and Beautiful Soup)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pr
---

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# Test 11 · ★★ · Alice in Wonderland, chapter X, part 2: The Lobster Quadri…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Looking back: in chapter II, Alice tried to say «How doth the little busy bee». What came out?

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**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Alice · **What happens:** look back, try, say, do, come out · **To what, where:** little busy bee · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 11 · ★★ of lesson 20 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter X, part 2: The Lobster Quadrille (poems gone wrong and Beautiful Soup)» 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/20-alice-the-lobster-quadrille-2/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Looking back: in chapter II, Alice tried to say «How doth the little busy bee».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:20-alice-the-lobster-quadrille-2:t11:1
# text = Looking back: in chapter II, Alice tried to say «How doth the little busy bee».
1	Looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	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	II	II	NUM	CD	NumForm=Roman|NumType=Card	5	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
8	Alice	Alice	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	xcomp	_	_
12	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	14	advmod	_	_
14	doth	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	ccomp	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
16	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
17	busy	busy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	bee	bee	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look back** | gerund | Alice *not said here* |  |  |  |  | in chapter | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent in chapter=Theme |
| 2 | **try** | past | Alice |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Alice *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **do** *in a quote* | present |  | the little busy bee |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bee=Eventuality |

<!-- .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:* What came out?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:20-alice-the-lobster-quadrille-2:t11:2
# text = What came out?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	2	nsubj	_	_
2	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	out	out	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come out** | past |  |  |  |  |  | out *property* | vn become-109.1 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Patient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«How doth the little fish improve his golden fins»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:20-alice-the-lobster-quadrille-2:t11:o1:1
# text = «How doth the little fish improve his golden fins»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
3	doth	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	fish	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	improve	improve	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
9	golden	golden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	fins	fin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** *in a quote* | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **improve** *in a quote* | present | the little fish | his golden fins |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent fin=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«How doth the crocodile»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:20-alice-the-lobster-quadrille-2:t11:o2:1
# text = «How doth the crocodile»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
3	doth	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	crocodile	crocodile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** *in a quote* | present |  | the crocodile |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent crocodile=Eventuality |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«How doth the little mouse improve his silver tail»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:20-alice-the-lobster-quadrille-2:t11:o3:1
# text = «How doth the little mouse improve his silver tail»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
3	doth	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	mouse	mouse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	improve	improve	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
9	silver	silver	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** *in a quote* | present |  | the little mouse |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **improve** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | mouse's silver tail |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent tail=Patient |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«How doth the little crocodile improve his shining tail»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:20-alice-the-lobster-quadrille-2:t11:o4:1
# text = «How doth the little crocodile improve his shining tail»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
3	doth	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	crocodile	crocodile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	improve	improve	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
9	shining	shine	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	amod	_	_
10	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** *in a quote* | present |  | the little crocodile |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **improve** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | crocodile's shining tail |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent tail=Patient |
| 3 | **shine** *in a quote* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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 X, part 2…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/20-alice-the-lobster-quadrille-2/t10/)
- next →: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter X, part 2…, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/20-alice-the-lobster-quadrille-2/t12/)
- ↑ back to [Alice in Wonderland, chapter X, part 2: The Lobster Quadrille (poems gone wrong and Beautiful Soup)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/20-alice-the-lobster-quadrille-2/)