---
title: The Rat's stories have «steamers that flung hard bottles—at least bo… — The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, pa… · tree and pragmatics
description: The Rat's stories have «steamers that flung hard bottles—at least bottles were certainly flung, and from steamers, so presumably by them». What's the joke? Test 9 · ★★ of lesson 28 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, part 4: The River Bank (the Mole grabs the oars, the boat goes over, and a friends
---

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# Test 9 · ★★ · The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, part 4: The River Bank…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Rat's stories have «steamers that flung hard bottles—at least bottles were certainly flung, and from steamers, so presumably by them». What's the joke?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** stories, steamers, joke · **What happens:** have, fling, be · **To what, where:** steamers, hard bottles, least bottles · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★★ of lesson 28 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter I, part 4: The River Bank (the Mole grabs the oars, the boat goes over, and a friendship begins)» 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/28-willows-ch1-part4-sploosh/#t9).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* The Rat's stories have «steamers that flung hard bottles—at least bottles were certainly flung, and from steamers, so presumably by them».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:28-willows-ch1-part4-sploosh:t9:1
# text = The Rat's stories have «steamers that flung hard bottles—at least bottles were certainly flung, and from steamers, so presumably by them».
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	stories	story	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	steamers	steamer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
9	flung	fling	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
10	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	bottles	bottle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	at	at	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	least	least	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	15	amod	_	_
15	bottles	bottle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	nsubj:pass	_	_
16	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux:pass	_	_
17	certainly	certainly	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	flung	fling	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
21	from	from	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	steamers	steamer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
24	so	so	ADV	RB	_	25	advmod	_	_
25	presumably	presumably	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
26	by	by	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
27	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | the Rat's stories | steamers |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **fling** *in a quote* | past | steamers | hard bottles |  |  |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bottle=Theme |
| 3 | **fling** *in a quote* | past · passive | steamers *= steamer* | least bottles |  |  |  | certainly, presumably *property* | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |

<!-- .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 joke?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:28-willows-ch1-part4-sploosh:t9:2
# text = What's the 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	4	det	_	_
4	joke	joke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Bottles were thrown by the Rat's own friends

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:28-willows-ch1-part4-sploosh:t9:o1:1
# text = Bottles were thrown by the Rat's own friends
1	Bottles	bottle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	thrown	throw	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	friends	friend	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **throw** | past · passive | the Rat's own friends | Bottles |  |  |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
People on the steamers threw them, not the boats, which is why bottles were flung about the river in every story

<!-- fold The tree, 21 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:28-willows-ch1-part4-sploosh:t9:o2:1
# text = People on the steamers threw them, not the boats, which is why bottles were flung about the river in every story
1	People	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
2	on	on	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	steamers	steamer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
5	threw	throw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	boats	boat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
14	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	10	acl:relcl	_	_
15	bottles	bottle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	nsubj:pass	_	_
16	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux:pass	_	_
17	flung	fling	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	advcl:relcl	_	_
18	about	about	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	_
21	in	in	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	23	det	_	_
23	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **throw** | past | People on the steamers | steamers *= steamer* |  | every story |  | the boats *obl* | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent they=Theme in story=Destination |
| 2 | **is** | present | the boats |  |  |  |  | why *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **fling** | past · passive |  | bottles |  |  |  | about the river | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: subject=Theme about river=Destination |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The bottles were flung by the steamers' captains, who were angry at the Rat's noisy singing on the river all day

<!-- fold The tree, 23 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:28-willows-ch1-part4-sploosh:t9:o3:1
# text = The bottles were flung by the steamers' captains, who were angry at the Rat's noisy singing on the river all day
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	bottles	bottle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	flung	fling	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	steamers	steamer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	'	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
9	captains	captain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	13	nsubj	_	_
12	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
13	angry	angry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	conj	_	_
14	at	at	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	24	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	's	's	PART	POS	_	16	case	_	_
18	noisy	noisy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	24	amod	_	_
19	singing	sing	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	24	csubj	_	_
20	on	on	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	_
23	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	24	det	_	_
24	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fling** | past · passive | the steamers's captains | the bottles |  |  |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | past | the steamers's captains |  |  |  | day | angry *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **sing** *speech: express* | gerund |  |  |  | the river |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on river=Location |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
People on the steamers threw them, not the boats

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:28-willows-ch1-part4-sploosh:t9:o4:1
# text = People on the steamers threw them, not the boats
1	People	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
2	on	on	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	steamers	steamer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	_
5	threw	throw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	boats	boat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **throw** | past | People on the steamers | steamers *= steamer* |  |  |  | the boats *obl* | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |

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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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