---
title: On what grounds did Darzee initially hesitate to destroy the eggs? — The Jungle Book, Rikki-tikki-tavi, par… · tree and pragmatics
description: On what grounds did Darzee initially hesitate to destroy the eggs? Exam question 3 of lesson 622 «The Jungle Book, Rikki-tikki-tavi, part 23: Rikki overhears the cobras' plot and waits to strike» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question an
---

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# Exam question 3 · The Jungle Book, Rikki-tikki-tavi, part 23: Rikki overhear…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
On what grounds did Darzee initially hesitate to destroy the eggs?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** grounds · **What happens:** hesitate, destroy · **To what, where:** eggs

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 of lesson 622 «The Jungle Book, Rikki-tikki-tavi, part 23: Rikki overhears the cobras' plot and waits to strike» 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/622-pg236-part23/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:622-pg236-part23:e3:1
# text = On what grounds did Darzee initially hesitate to destroy the eggs?
1	On	on	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	0	root	_	_
3	grounds	grounds	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	7	nsubj	_	_
4	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	Darzee	Darzee	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	appos	_	_
6	initially	initially	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	hesitate	hesitate	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	destroy	destroy	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	eggs	egg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hesitate** | present | grounds |  |  |  |  | initially *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **destroy** | to-infinitive | grounds *not said here* | the eggs |  |  |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent egg=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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He recognised they resembled his own

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:622-pg236-part23:e3:o1:1
# text = He recognised they resembled his own
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	recognised	recognise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	resembled	resemble	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **recognise** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **resemble** | past | they | his own |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He recognised they resembled his own, so he hesitated long

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:622-pg236-part23:e3:o2:1
# text = He recognised they resembled his own, so he hesitated long
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	recognised	recognise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	resembled	resemble	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	hesitated	hesitate	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
11	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	10	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **recognise** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **resemble** | past | they | his own |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **hesitate** | past | he |  |  |  |  | long *property* | vn linger-53.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He noticed they were like his

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:622-pg236-part23:e3:o3:1
# text = He noticed they were like his
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	noticed	notice	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	like	like	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **notice** | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** | past | they |  |  |  |  | like his *= he* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He thought they were his own

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:622-pg236-part23:e3:o4:1
# text = He thought they were his own
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	thought	think	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | past | He |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past | they |  |  |  |  | own *property* | tree rules |

<!-- 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 Jungle Book, Rikki-tikki-tavi, par…, exam 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/622-pg236-part23/e2/)
- next →: [The Jungle Book, Rikki-tikki-tavi, par…, exam 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/622-pg236-part23/e4/)
- ↑ back to [The Jungle Book, Rikki-tikki-tavi, part 23: Rikki overhears the cobras' plot and waits to strike](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/622-pg236-part23/)