---
title: ★★★ Badger says Toad's father told him a secret «he wouldn't have dr… — The Wind in the Willows, chapter XI, p… · tree and pragmatics
description: ★★★ Badger says Toad's father told him a secret «he wouldn't have dreamt of telling you». Why might a father NOT tell his own son? Test 16 · ★★★ of lesson 67 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter XI, part 3: «Like Summer Tempests Came His Tears» (loyal friends, cold pie and «Be quiet at once!»)» of the 
---

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# Test 16 · ★★★ · The Wind in the Willows, chapter XI, part 3: «Like Summer…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
★★★ Badger says Toad's father told him a secret «he wouldn't have dreamt of telling you». Why might a father NOT tell his own son?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 4 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** ★ ★, father · **What happens:** say, tell, not dreamt, not tell · **To what, where:** secret, ★, own son · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 16 · ★★★ of lesson 67 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter XI, part 3: «Like Summer Tempests Came His Tears» (loyal friends, cold pie and «Be quiet at once!»)» 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/67-willows-ch11-part3-badger-and-mole-come-home/#t16).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* ★★★ Badger says Toad's father told him a secret «he wouldn't have dreamt of telling you».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:67-willows-ch11-part3-badger-and-mole-come-home:t16:1
# text = ★★★ Badger says Toad's father told him a secret «he wouldn't have dreamt of telling you».
1	★	★	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	★	★	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	★	★	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	Badger	Badger	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	appos	_	_
5	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	Toad	Toad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	ccomp	_	_
10	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	iobj	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	secret	secret	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
13	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
15	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	18	advmod	_	_
17	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	aux	_	_
18	dreamt	dreamt	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	9	parataxis	_	_
19	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	20	mark	_	_
20	telling	tell	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	18	advcl	_	_
21	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	20	iobj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | ★ ★ |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | Toad's father | a secret | ★ |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **dreamt** *in a quote* | would · perfect | father |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **tell** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | gerund | father *not said here* |  | ★ |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent you=Recipient |

<!-- .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:* Why might a father NOT tell his own son?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:67-willows-ch11-part3-badger-and-mole-come-home:t16:2
# text = Why might a father NOT tell his own son?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	NOT	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
8	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	iobj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **tell** *speech: assert* | might | a father |  | father's own son |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent son=Recipient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because the boy was too young to understand

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:67-willows-ch11-part3-badger-and-mole-come-home:t16:o1:1
# text = Because the boy was too young to understand
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	too	too	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	young	young	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	understand	understand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the boy |  |  |  |  | young *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **understand** | to-infinitive | the boy *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because it was a secret of the family

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:67-willows-ch11-part3-badger-and-mole-come-home:t16:o2:1
# text = Because it was a secret of the family
1	Because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	secret	secret	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | it | a secret |  |  |  | of the family | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He is too old

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:67-willows-ch11-part3-badger-and-mole-come-home:t16:o3:1
# text = He is too old
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|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	too	too	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | He |  |  |  |  | old *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Because the son «simply cannot hold his tongue»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:67-willows-ch11-part3-badger-and-mole-come-home:t16:o4:1
# text = Because the son «simply cannot hold his tongue»
1	Because	because	ADP	IN	ExtPos=ADP	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	simply	simply	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
6	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	hold	hold	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	acl:relcl	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	tongue	tongue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **hold** *in a quote* | can | the son *not said here* | his tongue |  |  |  | simply *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tongue=Theme |

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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 XI, p…, test 15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/67-willows-ch11-part3-badger-and-mole-come-home/t15/)
- next →: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter XI, p…, test 17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/67-willows-ch11-part3-badger-and-mole-come-home/t17/)
- ↑ back to [The Wind in the Willows, chapter XI, part 3: «Like Summer Tempests Came His Tears» (loyal friends, cold pie and «Be quiet at once!»)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/67-willows-ch11-part3-badger-and-mole-come-home/)