---
title: The writer tells the summer like a play with flowers as actors. Why… — The Wind in the Willows, chapter III,… · tree and pragmatics
description: The writer tells the summer like a play with flowers as actors. Why might he do that? Test 4 · ★★ of lesson 33 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter III, part 1: The Wild Wood (winter, and the Mole sets out alone)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of 
---

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# Test 4 · ★★ · The Wind in the Willows, chapter III, part 1: The Wild Woo…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The writer tells the summer like a play with flowers as actors. Why might he do that?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** writer · **What happens:** tell, do · **To what, where:** that · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★★ of lesson 33 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter III, part 1: The Wild Wood (winter, and the Mole sets out alone)» 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/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* The writer tells the summer like a play with flowers as actors.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood:t4:1
# text = The writer tells the summer like a play with flowers as actors.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	writer	writer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	tells	tell	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	summer	summer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	like	like	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	play	play	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	flowers	flower	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
11	as	as	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	actors	actor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present | the writer |  |  |  | summer | like a play with flowers; as actors | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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:* Why might he do that?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood:t4:2
# text = Why might he do that?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | might | writer | that |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent that=Eventuality |

## The options {#options}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To show how the summer unfolded, beautiful and in order

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood:t4:o1:1
# text = To show how the summer unfolded, beautiful and in order
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	show	show	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	summer	summer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
6	unfolded	unfold	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	beautiful	beautiful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **unfold** | participle |  | the summer *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn bend-45.2 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To make the reader feel bored by the long summer days

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood:t4:o2:1
# text = To make the reader feel bored by the long summer days
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	make	make	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	reader	reader	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	feel	feel	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
6	bored	bore	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	xcomp	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
9	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
10	summer	summer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | to-infinitive |  | the reader |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **feel** | infinitive | the reader *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5-2 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 3 | **bore** | participle | the reader *not said here* |  |  |  | day |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To show the summer as a play so the readers can perform it on stage at school with the flowers as actors

<!-- fold The tree, 22 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood:t4:o3:1
# text = To show the summer as a play so the readers can perform it on stage at school with the flowers as actors
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	show	show	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	summer	summer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	as	as	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	play	play	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	readers	reader	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj	_	_
11	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	perform	perform	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
14	on	on	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	stage	stage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
16	at	at	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
18	with	with	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	flowers	flower	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	_
21	as	as	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	actors	actor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  | summer | as a play | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **perform** | can | the readers | play |  | stage |  | at school; with the flowers; as actors | vn performance-26.7 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To show that the flowers were really actors who had learned their parts, and the summer was a stage for all of them to perform upon together

<!-- fold The tree, 27 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood:t4:o4:1
# text = To show that the flowers were really actors who had learned their parts, and the summer was a stage for all of them to perform upon together
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	show	show	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	flowers	flower	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
6	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	really	really	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	actors	actor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
9	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	11	nsubj	_	_
10	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	learned	learn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	8	acl:relcl	_	_
12	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	parts	part	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	summer	summer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nsubj	_	_
18	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	cop	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	stage	stage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
21	for	for	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	20	nmod	_	_
23	of	of	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
24	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nmod	_	_
25	to	to	PART	TO	_	26	mark	_	_
26	perform	perform	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
27	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
28	together	together	ADV	RB	_	26	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | past | the flowers | actors |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **learn** | past · perfect | actors | flowers's parts |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent part=Topic |
| 4 | **is a** | past | the summer | a stage |  |  |  | for all | tree rules |
| 5 | **perform** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn performance-26.7 «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.

<!-- /div -->

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- next →: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter III,…, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/t5/)
- ↑ back to [The Wind in the Willows, chapter III, part 1: The Wild Wood (winter, and the Mole sets out alone)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/)