---
title: Why can't Rule Forty-two be «the oldest rule in the book»? — Alice in Wonderland, chapter XII, part… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why can't Rule Forty-two be «the oldest rule in the book»? Test 7 · ★★★ 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 pragmatics of the question and of each
---

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# Test 7 · ★★★ · Alice in Wonderland, chapter XII, part 1: Alice's Evidence…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why can't Rule Forty-two be «the oldest rule in the book»?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** not rule, be · **To what, where:** book, Forty oldest rule

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 7 · ★★★ 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. 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/#t7).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:23-alice-alices-evidence-1:t7:1
# text = Why can't Rule Forty-two be «the oldest rule in the book»?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	Rule	rule	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	Forty	forty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	conj	_	_
8	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	cop	_	_
9	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	oldest	old	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	12	amod	_	_
12	rule	rule	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **rule** | can |  |  |  | the book |  |  | vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | the Forty oldest rule |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was made up this very morning

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:23-alice-alices-evidence-1:t7:o1:1
# text = It was made up this very morning
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	up	up	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	7	det	_	_
6	very	very	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	morning	morning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make up** | past · passive |  | It |  |  | morning |  | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Pivot |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The oldest rule would be Number One, not Forty-two

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:23-alice-alices-evidence-1:t7:o2:1
# text = The oldest rule would be Number One, not Forty-two
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	oldest	old	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	3	amod	_	_
3	rule	rule	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	cop	_	_
6	Number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
10	Forty	forty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	conj	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The oldest rule would be Number One, not Forty-two, and Number One is in a book nobody has read

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:23-alice-alices-evidence-1:t7:o3:1
# text = The oldest rule would be Number One, not Forty-two, and Number One is in a book nobody has read
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	oldest	old	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	3	amod	_	_
3	rule	rule	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	cop	_	_
6	Number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
10	Forty	forty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
15	Number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nsubj	_	_
16	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	15	flat	_	_
17	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	cop	_	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	appos	_	_
21	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	23	nsubj	_	_
22	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	23	aux	_	_
23	read	read	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	20	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | would | the oldest rule | Number |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | Number |  |  | a book |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **read** | present · perfect | nobody | a book *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent book=Topic |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Forty-two is far too high a number

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:23-alice-alices-evidence-1:t7:o4:1
# text = Forty-two is far too high a number
1	Forty	forty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	1	conj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	7	advmod	_	_
6	too	too	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | a number |  |  |  |  | Forty *obl*; far, high *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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter XII, part…, test 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/23-alice-alices-evidence-1/t6/)
- next →: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter XII, part…, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/23-alice-alices-evidence-1/t8/)
- ↑ 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/)