---
title: Ascertain the inference drawn by the King from the absence of a sign… — Alice in Wonderland, chapter XII, part… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the inference drawn by the King from the absence of a signature upon the verses. Exam question 3 of lesson 23 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter XII, part 1: Alice's Evidence (Rule Forty-two and the unsigned letter)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pra
---

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# Exam question 3 · Alice in Wonderland, chapter XII, part 1: Alice's Evidence…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the inference drawn by the King from the absence of a signature upon the verses.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, draw, absent · **To what, where:** inference, signature

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 23 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter XII, part 1: Alice's Evidence (Rule Forty-two and the unsigned letter)» 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/23-alice-alices-evidence-1/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:23-alice-alices-evidence-1:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the inference drawn by the King from the absence of a signature upon the verses.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	inference	inference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	drawn	draw	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	King	King	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	absence	absence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	signature	signature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	verses	verse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	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 inference |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent inference=Topic |
| 2 | **draw** | participle |  | the inference *not said here* |  |  |  | by the King; from the absence of a signature upon the verses | vn split-23.2 «NP V PP.co-patient»: agent=Patient from absence=Co-Patient |
| 3 | **absent** |  |  | a signature upon the verses |  |  |  |  | nom absence «state 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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That the Knave must have intended mischief

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:23-alice-alices-evidence-1:e3:o1:1
# text = That the Knave must have intended mischief
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	Knave	knave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux	_	_
6	intended	intend	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	mischief	mischief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **intend** | must · perfect · passive |  | that Knave |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That the Knave was in a hurry

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:23-alice-alices-evidence-1:e3:o2:1
# text = That the Knave was in a hurry
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	nsubj	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	Knave	Knave	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	hurry	hurry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That the Knave must have been careless

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:23-alice-alices-evidence-1:e3:o3:1
# text = That the Knave must have been careless
1	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	Knave	knave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
5	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	aux	_	_
6	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	7	cop	_	_
7	careless	careless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | must · perfect | that Knave |  |  |  |  | careless *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
That he is innocent

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:23-alice-alices-evidence-1:e3:o4:1
# text = That he is innocent
1	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	innocent	innocent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

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

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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 XII, part…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/23-alice-alices-evidence-1/e2/)
- next →: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter XII, part…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/23-alice-alices-evidence-1/e4/)
- ↑ back to [Alice in Wonderland, chapter XII, part 1: Alice's Evidence (Rule Forty-two and the unsigned letter)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/23-alice-alices-evidence-1/)