---
title: Ascertain the cause of Toad's collapse upon the high road. — The Wind in the Willows, chapter X, pa… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the cause of Toad's collapse upon the high road. Exam question 2 of lesson 63 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter X, part 3: The Further Adventures of Toad (the most conceited song and the very same motor-car)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragma
---

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# Exam question 2 · The Wind in the Willows, chapter X, part 3: The Further Ad…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the cause of Toad's collapse upon the high road.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, Toad · **What happens:** ascertain, cause, collapse · **To what, where:** cause, collapse

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 2 of lesson 63 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter X, part 3: The Further Adventures of Toad (the most conceited song and the very same motor-car)» 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/63-willows-ch10-part3-the-conceited-song/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:63-willows-ch10-part3-the-conceited-song:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the cause of Toad's collapse upon the high road.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	Toad	Toad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	collapse	collapse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
8	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	road	road	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	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 cause of Toad's collapse upon the high road |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cause=Topic |
| 2 | **cause** |  |  | Toad's collapse upon the high road |  |  |  |  | nom cause «event transitive»: of=patient |
| 3 | **collapse** |  | Toad |  |  |  |  | upon the high road | nom collapse «state intransitive»: poss=agent upon=obl |

<!-- .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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Shock at seeing the car he had stolen from the inn

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:63-willows-ch10-part3-the-conceited-song:e2:o1:1
# text = Shock at seeing the car he had stolen from the inn
1	Shock	shock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
2	at	at	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
3	seeing	see	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	1	acl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	stolen	steal	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	5	acl:relcl	_	_
9	from	from	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	inn	inn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | gerund | Shock *not said here* | the car |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer car=Stimulus |
| 2 | **steal** | past · perfect | he | the car *not said here* |  | the inn |  |  | vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent car=Theme from inn=Source |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He saw his old enemy the Badger on the road

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:63-willows-ch10-part3-the-conceited-song:e2:o2:1
# text = He saw his old enemy the Badger on the road
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
4	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	enemy	enemy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	Badger	Badger	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	appos	_	_
8	on	on	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	road	road	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | past | He | his old enemy |  | the road |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer enemy=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His recognition of the motor-car as the very one he had stolen

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:63-willows-ch10-part3-the-conceited-song:e2:o3:1
# text = His recognition of the motor-car as the very one he had stolen
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	recognition	recognition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	motor	motor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
8	as	as	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	very	very	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
12	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
13	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	stolen	steal	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	11	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **steal** | past · perfect | he | the one *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location one=Theme |
| 2 | **recognize** |  | His *= he* | the motor car |  |  |  | as the one | nom recognition «state transitive»: poss=agent of=patient as=obl |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The sight of the motor-car, which he had stolen from the Red Lion and had never expected to see again, shocked him

<!-- fold The tree, 23 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:63-willows-ch10-part3-the-conceited-song:e2:o4:1
# text = The sight of the motor-car, which he had stolen from the Red Lion and had never expected to see again, shocked him
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sight	sight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	motor	motor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	car	car	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
11	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	stolen	steal	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
13	from	from	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	Red	Red	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	_
16	Lion	Lion	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
18	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
19	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	20	advmod	_	_
20	expected	expect	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	conj	_	_
21	to	to	PART	TO	_	22	mark	_	_
22	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	20	xcomp	_	_
23	again	again	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
25	shocked	shock	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
26	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **steal** | past · perfect · passive |  | the sight of the motor car |  |  |  | from the Red Lion | vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: subject=Theme from lion=Source |
| 2 | **not** **expect** | past · perfect |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 3 | **see** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  | again |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **shock** | past | the sight of the motor car | Lion |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus he=Experiencer |
| 5 | **sight** |  |  | the motor car |  |  |  |  | nom sight «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

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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 X, pa…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/63-willows-ch10-part3-the-conceited-song/e1/)
- next →: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter X, pa…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/63-willows-ch10-part3-the-conceited-song/e3/)
- ↑ back to [The Wind in the Willows, chapter X, part 3: The Further Adventures of Toad (the most conceited song and the very same motor-car)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/63-willows-ch10-part3-the-conceited-song/)