---
title: Ascertain the position initially adopted by the Rat in respect of th… — The Wind in the Willows, chapter II, p… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the position initially adopted by the Rat in respect of the proposed expedition. Exam question 2 of lesson 30 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter II, part 2: The Open Road (Toad's canary-coloured caravan)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics 
---

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# Exam question 2 · The Wind in the Willows, chapter II, part 2: The Open Road…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the position initially adopted by the Rat in respect of the proposed expedition.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, adopt, propose, respect · **To what, where:** position, respect, proposed expedition

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 30 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter II, part 2: The Open Road (Toad's canary-coloured caravan)» 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/30-willows-ch2-part2-the-canary-coloured-cart/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:30-willows-ch2-part2-the-canary-coloured-cart:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the position initially adopted by the Rat in respect of the proposed expedition.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	position	position	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	initially	initially	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	adopted	adopt	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	respect	respect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	proposed	propose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	amod	_	_
14	expedition	expedition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the position |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent position=Topic |
| 2 | **adopt** | participle |  | the position *not said here* |  | respect of the proposed expedition |  | by the Rat; initially *property* | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **propose** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **respect** |  |  | the proposed expedition |  |  |  |  | nom respect «cognition transitive»: of=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He declined, flatly, and said he would never ride in a caravan

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:30-willows-ch2-part2-the-canary-coloured-cart:e2:o1:1
# text = He declined, flatly, and said he would never ride in a caravan
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	declined	decline	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
4	flatly	flatly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
9	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
10	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	ride	ride	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	ccomp	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	caravan	caravan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **decline** | past | He |  |  |  |  | flatly *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | He *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **not** **ride** | would | he |  |  | a caravan |  |  | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2 «NP.agent V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He first agreed, then declined flatly once he heard the price

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:30-willows-ch2-part2-the-canary-coloured-cart:e2:o2:1
# text = He first agreed, then declined flatly once he heard the price
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	3	advmod	_	_
3	agreed	agree	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	6	advmod	_	_
6	declined	decline	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
7	flatly	flatly	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	10	advmod	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	price	price	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **agree** *speech: agree* | past | He |  |  |  |  | first *property* | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **decline** | past | He *not said here* |  |  |  | then | flatly *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 3 | **hear** | past | he | the price |  |  |  | once *property* | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer price=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He declined, flatly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:30-willows-ch2-part2-the-canary-coloured-cart:e2:o3:1
# text = He declined, flatly
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	declined	decline	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	flatly	flatly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **decline** | past | He |  |  |  |  | flatly *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He asked to go first

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:30-willows-ch2-part2-the-canary-coloured-cart:e2:o4:1
# text = He asked to go first
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	4	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **go** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | He *not said here* |  |  |  |  | first *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=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.

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- ← previous: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter II, p…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/30-willows-ch2-part2-the-canary-coloured-cart/e1/)
- next →: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter II, p…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/30-willows-ch2-part2-the-canary-coloured-cart/e3/)
- ↑ back to [The Wind in the Willows, chapter II, part 2: The Open Road (Toad's canary-coloured caravan)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/30-willows-ch2-part2-the-canary-coloured-cart/)