---
title: The Otter says Toad has «no stability—especially in a boat». What's… — The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, pa… · tree and pragmatics
description: The Otter says Toad has «no stability—especially in a boat». What's the double joke? Test 3 · ★★ of lesson 27 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, part 3: The River Bank (the Otter, a glimpse of Badger, and Toad in his new boat)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree
---

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# Test 3 · ★★ · The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, part 3: The River Bank…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Otter says Toad has «no stability—especially in a boat». What's the double joke?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Otter, Toad, double joke · **What happens:** say, have, be · **To what, where:** stability, boat · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 3 · ★★ of lesson 27 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, part 3: The River Bank (the Otter, a glimpse of Badger, and Toad in his new boat)» 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/27-willows-ch1-part3-otter-badger-and-toad/#t3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* The Otter says Toad has «no stability—especially in a boat».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:27-willows-ch1-part3-otter-badger-and-toad:t3:1
# text = The Otter says Toad has «no stability—especially in a boat».
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Otter	Otter	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	Toad	Toad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
6	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	8	det	_	_
8	stability	stability	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	especially	especially	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	boat	boat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | the Otter |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **have** | present | Toad | no stability |  | a boat |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stability=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What's the double joke?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:27-willows-ch1-part3-otter-badger-and-toad:t3:2
# text = What's the double joke?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	double	double	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	joke	joke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Toad keeps changing hobbies, and his boat rocks too

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:27-willows-ch1-part3-otter-badger-and-toad:t3:o1:1
# text = Toad keeps changing hobbies, and his boat rocks too
1	Toad	Toad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	keeps	keep	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	changing	change	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	xcomp	_	_
4	hobbies	hobby	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
8	boat	boat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	rocks	rock	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	parataxis	_	_
10	too	too	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | present | Toad |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **change** | gerund | Toad *not said here* | hobbies |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hobby=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Toad changes hobbies so the boat keeps tipping

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:27-willows-ch1-part3-otter-badger-and-toad:t3:o2:1
# text = Toad changes hobbies so the boat keeps tipping
1	Toad	Toad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	changes	change	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	hobbies	hobby	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	boat	boat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	keeps	keep	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
8	tipping	tip	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **change** | present | Toad | hobbies |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hobby=Patient |
| 2 | **keep** | present | the boat |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **tip** | gerund | the boat *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Toad's boat is unstable because Toad keeps moving around and laughing at everybody on board

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:27-willows-ch1-part3-otter-badger-and-toad:t3:o3:1
# text = Toad's boat is unstable because Toad keeps moving around and laughing at everybody on board
1	Toad	Toad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	boat	boat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	unstable	unstable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	Toad	Toad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	keeps	keep	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
9	moving	move	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	xcomp	_	_
10	around	around	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	laughing	laugh	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	conj	_	_
13	at	at	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	everybody	everybody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	12	obl	_	_
15	on	on	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	board	board	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Toad's boat |  |  |  |  | unstable *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **keep** | present | Toad |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **move around** | gerund | Toad *not said here* |  |  |  |  | around *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **laugh** | gerund | Toad *not said here* |  |  | everybody |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Toad has no stability because his boat is made of wood and sinks in the river

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:27-willows-ch1-part3-otter-badger-and-toad:t3:o4:1
# text = Toad has no stability because his boat is made of wood and sinks in the river
1	Toad	Toad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	4	det	_	_
4	stability	stability	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	boat	boat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	advcl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	sinks	sink	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Toad | no stability |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stability=Patient |
| 2 | **make** | present · passive |  | Toad's boat |  |  |  | of wood | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product |
| 3 | **sink** | present | Toad *not said here* |  |  | the river |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

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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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