---
title: Identify the subject of the composition entitled «Ducks' Ditty». — The Wind in the Willows, chapter II, p… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the subject of the composition entitled «Ducks' Ditty». Exam question 1 of lesson 29 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter II, part 1: The Open Road (the Ducks' Ditty, and a visit to Toad Hall)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the questio
---

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# Exam question 1 · The Wind in the Willows, chapter II, part 1: The Open Road…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the subject of the composition entitled «Ducks' Ditty».

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, subject · **What happens:** identify, entitle · **To what, where:** Ditty

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 29 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter II, part 1: The Open Road (the Ducks' Ditty, and a visit to Toad Hall)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/29-willows-ch2-part1-ducks-ditty-and-toad-hall/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:29-willows-ch2-part1-ducks-ditty-and-toad-hall:e1:1
# text = Identify the subject of the composition entitled «Ducks' Ditty».
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	subject	subject	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	composition	composition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	entitled	entitle	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	parataxis	_	_
8	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	Ducks	duck	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	'	's	PART	POS	_	9	case	_	_
11	Ditty	ditty	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn empathize-88.2 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **entitle** | past | the subject of the composition | Ducks's Ditty |  |  |  |  | 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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ducks dabbling in the backwater at noon, with their tails up in the reeds

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:29-willows-ch2-part1-ducks-ditty-and-toad-hall:e1:o1:1
# text = Ducks dabbling in the backwater at noon, with their tails up in the reeds
1	Ducks	duck	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	dabbling	dabble	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	backwater	backwater	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	noon	noon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	with	with	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	tails	tail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
12	up	up	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	reeds	reed	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dabble** | gerund | Ducks |  |  | the backwater | noon | with Ducks's tails in the reeds | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ducks dabbling in the backwater

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:29-willows-ch2-part1-ducks-ditty-and-toad-hall:e1:o2:1
# text = Ducks dabbling in the backwater
1	Ducks	duck	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
2	dabbling	dabble	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	acl	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	backwater	backwater	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **dabble** | gerund | Ducks *not said here* |  |  | the backwater |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Herons fishing in the reeds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:29-willows-ch2-part1-ducks-ditty-and-toad-hall:e1:o3:1
# text = Herons fishing in the reeds
1	Herons	heron	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	compound	_	_
2	fishing	fishing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	reeds	reed	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Swans gliding on the lake

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:29-willows-ch2-part1-ducks-ditty-and-toad-hall:e1:o4:1
# text = Swans gliding on the lake
1	Swans	swan	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
2	gliding	glide	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	acl	_	_
3	on	on	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	lake	lake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **glide** | gerund | Swans *not said here* |  |  | the lake |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on lake=Trajectory |

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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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- ← previous: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter II, p…, test 17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/29-willows-ch2-part1-ducks-ditty-and-toad-hall/t17/)
- next →: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter II, p…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/29-willows-ch2-part1-ducks-ditty-and-toad-hall/e2/)
- ↑ back to [The Wind in the Willows, chapter II, part 1: The Open Road (the Ducks' Ditty, and a visit to Toad Hall)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/29-willows-ch2-part1-ducks-ditty-and-toad-hall/)