---
title: Why is it funny that Alice trembles "till she shook the house"? — Alice in Wonderland, chapter IV, part… · tree and pragmatics
description: Why is it funny that Alice trembles "till she shook the house"? Test 4 · ★★ of lesson 7 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter IV, part 1: Stuck in the White Rabbit's house» 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
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/7-alice-ch4-part1-the-rabbits-house/t4/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[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 IV, part…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/7-alice-ch4-part1-the-rabbits-house/) / t4

# Test 4 · ★★ · Alice in Wonderland, chapter IV, part 1: Stuck in the Whit…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why is it funny that Alice trembles "till she shook the house"?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** it, Alice · **What happens:** be, tremble, shake · **To what, where:** house

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★★ of lesson 7 «Alice in Wonderland, chapter IV, part 1: Stuck in the White Rabbit's house» 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/7-alice-ch4-part1-the-rabbits-house/#t4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:7-alice-ch4-part1-the-rabbits-house:t4:1
# text = Why is it funny that Alice trembles "till she shook the house"?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	funny	funny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
6	Alice	Alice	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	trembles	tremble	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	till	till	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	shook	shake	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	ccomp	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | it |  |  |  |  | funny *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **tremble** | present | Alice |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **shake** *in a quote* | past | Alice | the house |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent house=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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is funny because the Rabbit is afraid of her, yet she is afraid of him, and both of them shake the walls of the house together

<!-- fold The tree, 27 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:7-alice-ch4-part1-the-rabbits-house:t4:o1:1
# text = It is funny because the Rabbit is afraid of her, yet she is afraid of him, and both of them shake the walls of the house together
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	funny	funny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Rabbit	rabbit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	afraid	afraid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	advcl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	yet	yet	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
13	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	afraid	afraid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
20	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	23	nsubj	_	_
21	of	of	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nmod	_	_
23	shake	shake	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	walls	wall	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	obj	_	_
26	of	of	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	nmod	_	_
29	together	together	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | funny *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | the Rabbit |  |  |  |  | of her *= she*; afraid *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | present | Rabbit |  |  |  |  | of him *= he*; afraid *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **shake** | present | both | the walls of the house |  |  |  | together *property* | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent wall=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She is huge, so her fear shakes the whole house, yet she fears a tiny rabbit who ran away from her in the wood at the start of the book

<!-- fold The tree, 30 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:7-alice-ch4-part1-the-rabbits-house:t4:o2:1
# text = She is huge, so her fear shakes the whole house, yet she fears a tiny rabbit who ran away from her in the wood at the start of the book
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	huge	huge	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
6	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	fear	fear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	shakes	shake	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	yet	yet	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	fears	fear	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	rabbit	rabbit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
19	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	20	nsubj	_	_
20	ran	run	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	acl:relcl	_	_
21	away	away	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
22	from	from	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	obl	_	_
24	in	in	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	_
27	at	at	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	start	start	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	_
30	of	of	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | She |  |  |  |  | huge *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **shake** | present | her fear | the whole house |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent house=Patient |
| 3 | **fear** | present | fear | a tiny rabbit |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer rabbit=Stimulus |
| 4 | **run away** | past | a tiny rabbit |  |  | the wood |  | from fear; at the start of the book; away *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme from she=Trajectory |
| 5 | **fear** |  | her *= she* |  |  |  |  |  | nom fear «feeling transitive»: poss=agent |
| 6 | **start** |  |  | the book |  |  |  |  | nom start «event transitive»: of=patient |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She is huge, so her fear shakes the whole house, yet she fears a tiny rabbit

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:7-alice-ch4-part1-the-rabbits-house:t4:o3:1
# text = She is huge, so her fear shakes the whole house, yet she fears a tiny rabbit
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	huge	huge	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
6	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	fear	fear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	shakes	shake	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	yet	yet	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	fears	fear	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	rabbit	rabbit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | She |  |  |  |  | huge *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **shake** | present | her fear | the whole house |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent house=Patient |
| 3 | **fear** | present | fear | a tiny rabbit |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer rabbit=Stimulus |
| 4 | **fear** |  | her *= she* |  |  |  |  |  | nom fear «feeling transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is funny because the house is so small and she shakes it all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:7-alice-ch4-part1-the-rabbits-house:t4:o4:1
# text = It is funny because the house is so small and she shakes it all
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	funny	funny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
8	so	so	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	advcl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	shakes	shake	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	_
14	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	13	det	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | funny *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | present | the house |  |  |  |  | small *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **shake** | present | she | house |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent it=Patient |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter IV, part…, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/7-alice-ch4-part1-the-rabbits-house/t3/)
- next →: [Alice in Wonderland, chapter IV, part…, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/7-alice-ch4-part1-the-rabbits-house/t5/)
- ↑ back to [Alice in Wonderland, chapter IV, part 1: Stuck in the White Rabbit's house](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/7-alice-ch4-part1-the-rabbits-house/)