---
title: «If that's all you know about it, you may stand down.» — «I can't go… — Alice in Wonderland, chapter XI, part… · tree and pragmatics
description: «If that's all you know about it, you may stand down.» — «I can't go no lower.» What is the joke? Test 7 · ★★★ of lesson 22 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter XI, part 2: Who Stole the Tarts? (the Hatter, the cook and a surprise witness)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency 
---

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# Test 7 · ★★★ · Alice in Wonderland, chapter XI, part 2: Who Stole the Tar…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«If that's all you know about it, you may stand down.» — «I can't go no lower.» What is the joke?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, I, joke · **What happens:** know, stand down, not go, be

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★★★ of lesson 22 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter XI, part 2: Who Stole the Tarts? (the Hatter, the cook and a surprise witness)» 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/22-alice-who-stole-the-tarts-2/#t7).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «If that's all you know about it, you may stand down.» — «I can't go no lower.»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:22-alice-who-stole-the-tarts-2:t7:1
# text = «If that's all you know about it, you may stand down.» — «I can't go no lower.»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
3	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	advmod	_	_
6	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	know	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	advcl	_	_
8	about	about	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
11	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
12	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	stand	stand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
14	down	down	ADP	RP	_	13	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	_
17	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	22	punct	_	_
18	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	22	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
20	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	22	advmod	_	_
22	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	conj	_	_
23	no	no	ADV	RB	_	24	advmod	_	_
24	lower	low	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	22	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** *a condition, not said to happen, in a quote* | present | you |  |  |  |  | about it | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer about it=Stimulus |
| 2 | **stand down** *in a quote* | may | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **not** **go** *in a quote* | can | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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 is the joke?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:22-alice-who-stole-the-tarts-2:t7:2
# text = What is the joke?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	joke	joke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«Stand down» means to be quiet in court, but he thinks it means to go lower into the cellar below

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:22-alice-who-stole-the-tarts-2:t7:o1:1
# text = «Stand down» means to be quiet in court, but he thinks it means to go lower into the cellar below
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Stand	stand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	csubj	_	_
3	down	down	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
5	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	cop	_	_
8	quiet	quiet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	xcomp	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	court	court	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
13	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	thinks	think	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	advcl	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
17	to	to	PART	TO	_	18	mark	_	_
18	go	go	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	16	ccomp	_	_
19	lower	low	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	18	advmod	_	_
20	into	into	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	cellar	cellar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
23	below	below	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand down** *in a quote* | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  |  |  | court |  | quiet *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **think** *speech: other* | present | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **mean** | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 6 | **go** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  |  |  | the cellar |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme into cellar=Initial\_Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stand down means get down, not leave the box

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:22-alice-who-stole-the-tarts-2:t7:o2:1
# text = Stand down means get down, not leave the box
1	Stand	stand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	csubj	_	_
2	down	down	ADP	RP	_	1	compound:prt	_	_
3	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
5	down	down	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	leave	leave	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	box	box	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand down** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **get down** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn convert-26.6.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient |
| 4 | **not** **leave** | infinitive |  | the box |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent box=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«Stand down» means leave the witness box, but the Hatter takes it literally and tries to get lower down than the floor

<!-- fold The tree, 22 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:22-alice-who-stole-the-tarts-2:t7:o3:1
# text = «Stand down» means leave the witness box, but the Hatter takes it literally and tries to get lower down than the floor
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Stand	stand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	csubj	_	_
3	down	down	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
5	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	leave	leave	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	ccomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	witness	witness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	box	box	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	Hatter	Hatter	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
14	takes	take	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
16	literally	literally	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
18	tries	try	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	conj	_	_
19	to	to	PART	TO	_	20	mark	_	_
20	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	xcomp	_	_
21	lower	low	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	20	xcomp	_	_
22	down	down	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
23	than	than	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	floor	floor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand down** *in a quote* | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **leave** | infinitive |  | the witness box |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent box=Theme |
| 4 | **take** | present | the Hatter | box |  |  |  | literally *property* | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 5 | **try** | present | the Hatter *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 6 | **get** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the Hatter *not said here* |  |  |  |  | down, low *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«Stand down» means leave the witness box, but the Hatter takes it as get lower

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:22-alice-who-stole-the-tarts-2:t7:o4:1
# text = «Stand down» means leave the witness box, but the Hatter takes it as get lower
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Stand	stand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	csubj	_	_
3	down	down	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
5	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	leave	leave	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	ccomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	witness	witness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	box	box	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	Hatter	Hatter	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
14	takes	take	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
16	as	as	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	get	get	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	ccomp	_	_
18	lower	low	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	14	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand down** *in a quote* | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **leave** | infinitive |  | the witness box |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent box=Theme |
| 4 | **take** | present | the Hatter |  |  |  |  | low *property* | vn require-103 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Precondition |
| 5 | **get** | present | Hatter |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

<!-- 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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- ↑ back to [Alice in Wonderland, chapter XI, part 2: Who Stole the Tarts? (the Hatter, the cook and a surprise witness)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/22-alice-who-stole-the-tarts-2/)