---
title: Ascertain the practice of river-bankers, as stated by the Rat, in re… — The Wind in the Willows, chapter III,… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the practice of river-bankers, as stated by the Rat, in respect of visits to the Wild Wood. Exam question 2 of lesson 35 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter III, part 3: The Wild Wood (the Rat finds the Mole, and the snow comes)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the depende
---

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# Exam question 2 · The Wind in the Willows, chapter III, part 3: The Wild Woo…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the practice of river-bankers, as stated by the Rat, in respect of visits to the Wild Wood.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, state, practice, respect · **To what, where:** practice, river bankers, visits

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 35 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter III, part 3: The Wild Wood (the Rat finds the Mole, and the snow comes)» 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/35-willows-ch3-part3-snow-in-the-wild-wood/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:35-willows-ch3-part3-snow-in-the-wild-wood:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the practice of river-bankers, as stated by the Rat, in respect of visits to the Wild Wood.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	practice	practice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	bankers	banker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
10	stated	state	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	1	parataxis	_	_
11	by	by	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	respect	respect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	parataxis	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	visits	visit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nmod	_	_
19	to	to	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
21	Wild	Wild	PROPN	NNP	_	22	flat	_	_
22	Wood	Wood	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	18	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	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 practice of river bankers |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent practice=Topic |
| 2 | **state** *speech: other* | participle |  |  |  |  |  | by the Rat | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **practice** |  |  | river bankers |  |  |  |  | nom practice «act transitive»: of=patient |
| 4 | **respect** |  |  | visits to the Wild Wood |  |  |  |  | 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 -->
They come only in large armed groups, carrying lanterns and pistols through the whole night

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:35-willows-ch3-part3-snow-in-the-wild-wood:e2:o1:1
# text = They come only in large armed groups, carrying lanterns and pistols through the whole night
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	come	come	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	armed	armed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	groups	group	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	carrying	carry	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
10	lanterns	lantern	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	pistols	pistol	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	conj	_	_
13	through	through	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | present | They |  |  | large armed groups |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in group=Location |
| 2 | **carry** | gerund | They *not said here* | lanterns and pistols |  |  | night |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent lantern=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They should never come at all, but if they must, they travel at least in pairs

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:35-willows-ch3-part3-snow-in-the-wild-wood:e2:o2:1
# text = They should never come at all, but if they must, they travel at least in pairs
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
8	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
9	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
13	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	travel	travel	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
15	at	at	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	least	least	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	14	obl	_	_
17	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	pairs	pair	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **come** | should | They |  |  | all |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at all=Location |
| 2 | **travel** | present | they |  |  | least |  | in pairs | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at least=Trajectory |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They come in couples at least, if they must come

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:35-willows-ch3-part3-snow-in-the-wild-wood:e2:o3:1
# text = They come in couples at least, if they must come
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	come	come	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	couples	couple	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	least	least	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
8	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
9	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
10	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | present | They |  |  | couples |  | at least | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in couple=Location |
| 2 | **come** *a condition, not said to happen* | must | couples *= couple* |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They visit daily in large noisy groups at dusk

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:35-willows-ch3-part3-snow-in-the-wild-wood:e2:o4:1
# text = They visit daily in large noisy groups at dusk
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	visit	visit	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	daily	daily	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	noisy	noisy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	groups	group	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	dusk	dusk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **visit** | present | They |  |  | large noisy groups | dusk | daily *property* | vn meet-36.3-1 «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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- ← previous: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter III,…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/35-willows-ch3-part3-snow-in-the-wild-wood/e1/)
- next →: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter III,…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/35-willows-ch3-part3-snow-in-the-wild-wood/e3/)
- ↑ back to [The Wind in the Willows, chapter III, part 3: The Wild Wood (the Rat finds the Mole, and the snow comes)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/35-willows-ch3-part3-snow-in-the-wild-wood/)