--- title: Why is "It is a long tail, certainly" funny? — Alice in Wonderland, chapter III, part… · tree and pragmatics description: Why is "It is a long tail, certainly" funny? Test 3 · ★★ of lesson 6 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter III, part 2: Prizes, a long tale, and Dinah again» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/6-alice-ch3-part2-a-long-tale/t3/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Books](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/) / [Alice in Wonderland, chapter III, part…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/6-alice-ch3-part2-a-long-tale/) / t3 # Test 3 · ★★ · Alice in Wonderland, chapter III, part 2: Prizes, a long t… Why is "It is a long tail, certainly" funny? **Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** It · **What happens:** be · **To what, where:** long tail This is test 3 · ★★ of lesson 6 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter III, part 2: Prizes, a long tale, and Dinah again» 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/6-alice-ch3-part2-a-long-tale/#t3). ## The question {#question} ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:6-alice-ch3-part2-a-long-tale:t3:1 # text = Why is "It is a long tail, certainly" funny? 1 Why why ADV WRB PronType=Int 8 advmod _ _ 2 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 8 cop _ _ 3 " " PUNCT `` _ 8 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 4 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 8 nsubj _ _ 5 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 8 cop _ _ 6 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 7 long long ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 8 amod _ _ 8 tail tail NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 12 punct _ _ 10 certainly certainly ADV RB _ 12 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 11 " " PUNCT `` _ 12 punct _ _ 12 funny funny ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 8 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 13 ? ? PUNCT . _ 8 punct _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | It | a long tail | | | | | tree rules | 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} The Mouse was really talking about a cat ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:6-alice-ch3-part2-a-long-tale:t3:o1:1 # text = The Mouse was really talking about a cat 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 Mouse mouse NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 nsubj _ _ 3 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 aux _ _ 4 really really ADV RB _ 5 advmod _ _ 5 talking talk VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 6 about about ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 7 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 cat cat NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 obl _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **talk** | past · progressive | the Mouse | | | | | about a cat | vn talk-37.5 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent about cat=Topic | ### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2} "Tale" and "tail" sound the same but mean different things ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:6-alice-ch3-part2-a-long-tale:t3:o2:1 # text = "Tale" and "tail" sound the same but mean different things 1 " " PUNCT `` _ 2 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 2 Tale Tale PROPN NNP Number=Sing 8 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 3 " " PUNCT '' _ 2 punct _ _ 4 and and CCONJ CC _ 6 cc _ _ 5 " " PUNCT `` _ 6 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 6 tail tail NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 7 " " PUNCT '' _ 6 punct _ _ 8 sound sound VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 9 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 10 same same ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 8 obj _ _ 11 but but CCONJ CC _ 12 cc _ _ 12 mean mean VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 8 conj _ _ 13 different different ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 14 amod _ _ 14 things thing NOUN NNS Number=Plur 12 obj _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **sound** | present | Tale and tail | the same | | | | | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location same=Theme | | 2 | **mean** | present | Tale and tail *not said here* | different things | | | | | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thing=Topic | ### Option 3 {#o3} The Mouse is a silly creature who loves to fidget ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:6-alice-ch3-part2-a-long-tale:t3:o3:1 # text = The Mouse is a silly creature who loves to fidget 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 Mouse mouse NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 nsubj _ _ 3 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 6 cop _ _ 4 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 5 silly silly ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 6 amod _ _ 6 creature creature NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ 7 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 8 nsubj _ _ 8 loves love VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 6 acl:relcl _ _ 9 to to PART TO _ 10 mark _ _ 10 fidget fidget VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 8 xcomp _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** | present | the Mouse | a silly creature | | | | | tree rules | | 2 | **love** | present | a silly creature | | | | | | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 3 | **fidget** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | a silly creature *not said here* | | | | | | vn body\_internal\_motion-49.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ### Option 4 {#o4} It is a pun on words ```conllu # sent_id = question:books:6-alice-ch3-part2-a-long-tale:t3:o4:1 # text = It is a pun on words 1 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 2 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 cop _ _ 3 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 4 pun pun NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ 5 on on ADP IN _ 6 case _ _ 6 words word NOUN NNS Number=Plur 4 nmod _ _ ``` | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** | present | It | a pun | | words | | | tree rules | **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. - ← previous: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter III, part…, test 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/6-alice-ch3-part2-a-long-tale/t2/) - next →: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter III, part…, test 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/6-alice-ch3-part2-a-long-tale/t4/) - ↑ back to [Alice in Wonderland, chapter III, part 2: Prizes, a long tale, and Dinah again](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/6-alice-ch3-part2-a-long-tale/)