---
title: Why do the Rat and the Otter laugh when they hear about Toad's new b… — The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, pa… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why do the Rat and the Otter laugh when they hear about Toad's new boat? Test 5 · ★★ 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 and pragmat
---

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# Test 5 · ★★ · The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, part 3: The River Bank…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why do the Rat and the Otter laugh when they hear about Toad's new boat?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Rat · **What happens:** do, laugh, hear

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★★ 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/#t5).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:27-willows-ch1-part3-otter-badger-and-toad:t5:1
# text = Why do the Rat and the Otter laugh when they hear about Toad's new boat?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	_
2	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	Otter	Otter	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
8	laugh	laugh	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	11	mark	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	hear	hear	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
12	about	about	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
13	Toad	Toad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	16	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	's	's	PART	POS	_	13	case	_	_
15	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	boat	boat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present | the Rat and the Otter *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **laugh** | present | the Rat and the Otter |  |  |  |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **hear** | present | Rat |  |  |  |  | about Toad's new boat | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer about boat=Stimulus |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Toad had shouted at them from the middle of the river and they found it amusing

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:27-willows-ch1-part3-otter-badger-and-toad:t5:o1:1
# text = Toad had shouted at them from the middle of the river and they found it amusing
1	Toad	Toad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	shouted	shout	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obl	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	middle	middle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
13	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	found	find	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
16	amusing	amusing	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shout** *speech: express* | past · perfect | Toad |  |  | the middle of the river |  | at them *= they* | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **find** | past | they | river |  |  |  | amusing *property* | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Topic |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They think he cannot row

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:27-willows-ch1-part3-otter-badger-and-toad:t5:o2:1
# text = They think he cannot row
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	think	think	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	row	row	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | present | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **row** | can | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2 «NP.agent V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They know it's just his latest craze

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:27-willows-ch1-part3-otter-badger-and-toad:t5:o3:1
# text = They know it's just his latest craze
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	know	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
5	just	just	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	latest	late	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	8	amod	_	_
8	craze	craze	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | present | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is a** | present | it | his latest craze |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They think he is showing off again

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:27-willows-ch1-part3-otter-badger-and-toad:t5:o4:1
# text = They think he is showing off again
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	think	think	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	showing	show	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	ccomp	_	_
6	off	off	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	again	again	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | present | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **show off** | present · progressive | he |  |  |  | again |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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