---
title: Looking back: what did the Rat «vainly» try to shield the Mole from,… — The Wind in the Willows, chapter III,… · tree and pragmatics
description: Looking back: what did the Rat «vainly» try to shield the Mole from, according to the book? Test 9 · ★★★ of lesson 34 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter III, part 2: The Wild Wood (the faces, the whistling, the pattering — and the Rat sets out)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the 
---

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# Test 9 · ★★★ · The Wind in the Willows, chapter III, part 2: The Wild Woo…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Looking back: what did the Rat «vainly» try to shield the Mole from, according to the book?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** Rat · **What happens:** look back, try, shield, accord · **To what, where:** Mole

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This is test 9 · ★★★ of lesson 34 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter III, part 2: The Wild Wood (the faces, the whistling, the pattering — and the Rat sets out)» 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/34-willows-ch3-part2-the-terror-of-the-wild-wood/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:34-willows-ch3-part2-the-terror-of-the-wild-wood:t9:1
# text = Looking back: what did the Rat «vainly» try to shield the Mole from, according to the book?
1	Looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
2	back	back	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	11	punct	_	_
4	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	11	obj	_	_
5	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
8	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	vainly	vainly	ADV	RB	_	11	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	try	try	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	conj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	shield	shield	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	xcomp	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	Mole	mole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
16	from	from	ADP	IN	_	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
18	according	accord	VERB	VBG	ExtPos=ADP|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	21	case	_	_
19	to	to	ADP	IN	_	18	fixed	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look back** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | accord the book | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **try** | past · do-support | the Rat |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **shield** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the Rat *not said here* | the Mole |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **accord** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: 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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The sight of the sad, bleeding faces lurking in the trees

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:34-willows-ch3-part2-the-terror-of-the-wild-wood:t9:o1:1
# text = The sight of the sad, bleeding faces lurking in the trees
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sight	sight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
5	sad	sad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	bleeding	bleed	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	amod	_	_
8	faces	face	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
9	lurking	lurk	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	acl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bleed** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Source |
| 2 | **lurk** | gerund | the sad bleeding faces *not said here* |  |  | the trees |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in tree=Location |
| 3 | **sight** |  |  | the sad bleeding faces |  |  |  |  | nom sight «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Wild Wood's Hidden Fear

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:34-willows-ch3-part2-the-terror-of-the-wild-wood:t9:o2:1
# text = The Wild Wood's Hidden Fear
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	Wild	Wild	PROPN	NNP	_	3	flat	_	_
3	Wood	Wood	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	Hidden	Hidden	ADJ	NNP	Degree=Pos	6	compound	_	_
6	Fear	fear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fear** |  | the Wild Wood |  |  |  |  |  | nom fear «feeling transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The long, cold winter that was coming soon to the whole river valley

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:34-willows-ch3-part2-the-terror-of-the-wild-wood:t9:o3:1
# text = The long, cold winter that was coming soon to the whole river valley
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
2	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	coming	come	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	acl:relcl	_	_
9	soon	soon	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	8	advmod	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
12	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
13	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
14	valley	valley	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | past · progressive | the long cold winter |  |  | the whole river valley |  | soon *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to valley=Initial\_Location |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Terror of the Wild Wood

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:34-willows-ch3-part2-the-terror-of-the-wild-wood:t9:o4:1
# text = The Terror of the Wild Wood
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Terror	terror	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	Wild	Wild	PROPN	NNP	_	6	flat	_	_
6	Wood	Wood	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

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

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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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- ↑ back to [The Wind in the Willows, chapter III, part 2: The Wild Wood (the faces, the whistling, the pattering — and the Rat sets out)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/34-willows-ch3-part2-the-terror-of-the-wild-wood/)