---
title: ★★★ «He might not refuse, were Death himself waiting to strike him».… — The Wind in the Willows, chapter VII,… · tree and pragmatics
description: ★★★ «He might not refuse, were Death himself waiting to strike him». What does this mean? Test 16 · ★ of lesson 50 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter VII, part 2: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (the music and the island)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and prag
---

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# Test 16 · ★ · The Wind in the Willows, chapter VII, part 2: The Piper at…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
★★★ «He might not refuse, were Death himself waiting to strike him». What does this mean?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** He, ★ Death, this · **What happens:** not refuse, be, wait, strike, mean · **To what, where:** ★ Death, Death

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This is test 16 · ★ of lesson 50 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter VII, part 2: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (the music and the island)» 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/50-willows-ch7-part2-the-piper/#t16).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* ★★★ «He might not refuse, were Death himself waiting to strike him».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:50-willows-ch7-part2-the-piper:t16:1
# text = ★★★ «He might not refuse, were Death himself waiting to strike him».
1	★	★	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	★	★	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	1	dep	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	★	★	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	1	dep	_	_
4	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
6	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	refuse	refuse	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
10	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
11	Death	Death	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
12	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	11	nmod	_	_
13	waiting	wait	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	strike	strike	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	xcomp	_	_
16	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **refuse** *in a quote* | might | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | past |  | ★ Death |  |  |  | Death *nmod* | tree rules |
| 3 | **wait** *in a quote* | gerund | ★ Death |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **strike** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | ★ Death *not said here* | Death |  |  |  |  | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent he=Instrument |

<!-- .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:* What does this mean?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:50-willows-ch7-part2-the-piper:t16:2
# text = What does this mean?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	nsubj	_	_
4	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present · do-support | this |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He would look even if he had to run back home

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:50-willows-ch7-part2-the-piper:t16:o1:1
# text = He would look even if he had to run back home
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	even	even	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
5	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	run	run	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	back	back	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
11	home	home	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | would | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **have** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | he |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **run back** | to-infinitive | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  | home *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was too afraid to look

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:50-willows-ch7-part2-the-piper:t16:o2:1
# text = He was too afraid to look
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	afraid	afraid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | He |  |  |  |  | afraid *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **look** | to-infinitive | He *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Even if looking meant death, he could not refuse to look

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:50-willows-ch7-part2-the-piper:t16:o3:1
# text = Even if looking meant death, he could not refuse to look
1	Even	even	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
3	looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
4	meant	mean	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	amod	_	_
5	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
8	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	refuse	refuse	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	parataxis	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | gerund |  | meant death |  |  |  |  | vn seem-109-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme death=Attribute |
| 2 | **mean** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **not** **refuse** | could | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 4 | **look** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He never looked

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:50-willows-ch7-part2-the-piper:t16:o4:1
# text = He never looked
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	looked	look	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **look** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |

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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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