---
title: Identify the principal reason advanced by the Badger for the postpon… — The Wind in the Willows, chapter IV, p… · tree and pragmatics
description: Identify the principal reason advanced by the Badger for the postponement of any intervention. Exam question 2 of lesson 38 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter IV, part 2: Mr. Badger (bad news of Toad, a winter promise, and two lost hedgehogs)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the de
---

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# Exam question 2 · The Wind in the Willows, chapter IV, part 2: Mr. Badger (b…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Identify the principal reason advanced by the Badger for the postponement of any intervention.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** identify, advance · **To what, where:** principal reason

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 38 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter IV, part 2: Mr. Badger (bad news of Toad, a winter promise, and two lost hedgehogs)» 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/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs:e2:1
# text = Identify the principal reason advanced by the Badger for the postponement of any intervention.
1	Identify	identify	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	advanced	advance	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	Badger	Badger	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	for	for	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	postponement	postponement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	14	det	_	_
14	intervention	intervention	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **identify** | imperative | you *not said here* | the principal reason |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **advance** | participle |  | the principal reason *not said here* |  |  |  | by the Badger; for the postponement of any intervention *goal* | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP PP.goal»: agent=Agent for postponement=Goal |

<!-- .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 -->
Toad's wish to be left alone for the winter season

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs:e2:o1:1
# text = Toad's wish to be left alone for the winter season
1	Toad	Toad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	's	PART	POS	_	1	case	_	_
3	wish	wish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
5	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	left	leave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	alone	alone	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	season	season	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **leave** | to-infinitive · passive |  | Toad's wish |  |  | season | alone *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **wish** |  | Toad |  |  |  |  |  | nom wish «feeling intransitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cold weather

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs:e2:o2:1
# text = The cold weather
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	weather	weather	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Winter itself

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs:e2:o3:1
# text = Winter itself
1	Winter	Winter	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Emp|Reflex=Yes	1	nmod:unmarked	_	_
```

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

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The winter season, in which no strenuous undertaking is expected of any animal

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs:e2:o4:1
# text = The winter season, in which no strenuous undertaking is expected of any animal
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	season	season	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	obl	_	_
7	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	9	det	_	_
8	strenuous	strenuous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	undertaking	undertaking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	expected	expect	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	14	det	_	_
14	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **expect** | present · passive |  | no strenuous undertaking |  |  | in the winter season | of any animal | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V NP»: subject=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.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter IV, p…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/e1/)
- next →: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter IV, p…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/e3/)
- ↑ back to [The Wind in the Willows, chapter IV, part 2: Mr. Badger (bad news of Toad, a winter promise, and two lost hedgehogs)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/38-willows-ch4-part2-toad-news-and-hedgehogs/)