---
title: Ascertain the reason for the field-mouse's failure to recite from th… — The Wind in the Willows, chapter V, pa… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for the field-mouse's failure to recite from the play. Exam question 3 of lesson 44 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter V, part 4: Dulce Domum (the carol, a magic supper, and a home to come back to)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragma
---

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# Exam question 3 · The Wind in the Willows, chapter V, part 4: Dulce Domum (t…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for the field-mouse's failure to recite from the play.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, field mouse · **What happens:** ascertain, recite, fail · **To what, where:** reason, play

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 44 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter V, part 4: Dulce Domum (the carol, a magic supper, and a home to come back to)» 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/44-willows-ch5-part4-the-carol-and-a-happy-homecoming/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:44-willows-ch5-part4-the-carol-and-a-happy-homecoming:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for the field-mouse's failure to recite from the play.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
6	field	field	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	mouse	mouse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	failure	failure	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	recite	recite	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	acl	_	_
13	from	from	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	play	play	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	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 reason |  |  |  | for the field mouse's failure | vn ensure-99 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Precondition reason=Theme for failure=Beneficiary |
| 2 | **recite** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  | the play |  |  | vn performance-26.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **fail** |  | the field mouse |  |  |  |  |  | nom failure «act intransitive»: poss=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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stage-fright

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:44-willows-ch5-part4-the-carol-and-a-happy-homecoming:e3:o1:1
# text = Stage-fright
1	Stage	stage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	1	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	fright	fright	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He had learned the wrong play and could not remember the first word of it

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:44-willows-ch5-part4-the-carol-and-a-happy-homecoming:e3:o2:1
# text = He had learned the wrong play and could not remember the first word of it
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	learned	learn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	play	play	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
8	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	remember	remember	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	13	amod	_	_
13	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **learn** | past · perfect | He | the wrong play |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent play=Topic |
| 2 | **not** **remember** | could | He *not said here* | the first word of word |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent word=Theme |
| 3 | **word** |  |  | word |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was too busy stuffing his mouth with cake to speak when the Rat called on him

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:44-willows-ch5-part4-the-carol-and-a-happy-homecoming:e3:o3:1
# text = He was too busy stuffing his mouth with cake to speak when the Rat called on him
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	too	too	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	busy	busy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	stuffing	stuff	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	mouth	mouth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	cake	cake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	speak	speak	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
12	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	15	advmod	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
15	called	call	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	advcl	_	_
16	on	on	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | He |  |  |  |  | busy *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **stuff** | gerund | He *not said here* | his mouth |  |  |  | with cake | vn spray-9.7-2 «NP V NP.destination PP.theme»: agent=Agent mouth=Destination with cake=Theme |
| 3 | **speak** *speech: other* | to-infinitive | He *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **call** | past | the Rat |  |  |  |  | on him *= he* | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A sore throat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:44-willows-ch5-part4-the-carol-and-a-happy-homecoming:e3:o4:1
# text = A sore throat
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	sore	sore	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	throat	throat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

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

<!-- div src -->

**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 V, pa…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/44-willows-ch5-part4-the-carol-and-a-happy-homecoming/e2/)
- next →: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter V, pa…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/44-willows-ch5-part4-the-carol-and-a-happy-homecoming/e4/)
- ↑ back to [The Wind in the Willows, chapter V, part 4: Dulce Domum (the carol, a magic supper, and a home to come back to)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/44-willows-ch5-part4-the-carol-and-a-happy-homecoming/)