---
title: The Mole says «Oh, it's all very well to talk» rather pettishly when… — The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, pa… · tree and pragmatics
description: The Mole says «Oh, it's all very well to talk» rather pettishly when the Rat asks him over. Why is he a bit cross? Test 8 · ★★ of lesson 25 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, part 1: The River Bank (the Mole leaves his spring-cleaning and meets the Rat)» of the books course of Mova's primary schoo
---

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# Test 8 · ★★ · The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, part 1: The River Bank…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Mole says «Oh, it's all very well to talk» rather pettishly when the Rat asks him over. Why is he a bit cross?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Mole, Rat · **What happens:** say, be, talk, ask over · **To what, where:** him, bit cross · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★ of lesson 25 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, part 1: The River Bank (the Mole leaves his spring-cleaning and meets the Rat)» 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/25-willows-ch1-part1-the-mole-meets-the-river/#t8).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* The Mole says «Oh, it's all very well to talk» rather pettishly when the Rat asks him over.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:25-willows-ch1-part1-the-mole-meets-the-river:t8:1
# text = The Mole says «Oh, it's all very well to talk» rather pettishly when the Rat asks him over.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Mole	mole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	Oh	oh	INTJ	UH	_	11	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
9	all	all	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
10	very	very	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	13	advmod	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	talk	talk	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	_
15	rather	rather	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	pettishly	pettishly	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
17	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	20	advmod	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	20	nsubj	_	_
20	asks	ask	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	advcl	_	_
21	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	obj	_	_
22	over	over	ADP	RP	_	20	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | the Mole |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | Mole |  |  |  |  | all, well *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **talk** *in a quote* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | pettishly *property* | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **ask over** *speech: ask* | present | the Rat |  | him *= he* |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |

<!-- .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:* Why is he a bit cross?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:25-willows-ch1-part1-the-mole-meets-the-river:t8:2
# text = Why is he a bit cross?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	bit	bit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	cross	cross	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He doesn't like the Rat much

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:25-willows-ch1-part1-the-mole-meets-the-river:t8:o1:1
# text = He doesn't like the Rat much
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	like	like	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	much	much	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **like** | present · do-support | He | the Rat |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot rat=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He is shy and wants to stay inside

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:25-willows-ch1-part1-the-mole-meets-the-river:t8:o2:1
# text = He is shy and wants to stay inside
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	shy	shy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	stay	stay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	inside	inside	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | shy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **want** | present | He *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 3 | **stay** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | He *not said here* |  |  |  |  | inside *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He can't see how he could get across

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:25-willows-ch1-part1-the-mole-meets-the-river:t8:o3:1
# text = He can't see how he could get across
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	ca	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	_
9	across	across	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **see** | can | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **get** | could | he |  |  |  |  | across *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He is hungry

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:25-willows-ch1-part1-the-mole-meets-the-river:t8:o4:1
# text = He is hungry
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	hungry	hungry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | hungry *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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- ↑ back to [The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, part 1: The River Bank (the Mole leaves his spring-cleaning and meets the Rat)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/25-willows-ch1-part1-the-mole-meets-the-river/)