---
title: Ascertain the true motive underlying Toad's sudden acquiescence in t… — The Wind in the Willows, chapter XII,… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the true motive underlying Toad's sudden acquiescence in the Badger's request. Exam question 2 of lesson 72 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter XII, part 3: The Return of Ulysses (the invitations, «SPEECH BY TOAD» and «not one little song»)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with
---

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# Exam question 2 · The Wind in the Willows, chapter XII, part 3: The Return o…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the true motive underlying Toad's sudden acquiescence in the Badger's request.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, Toad, Badger · **What happens:** ascertain, acquiesce, request · **To what, where:** true motive underlying sudden acquiescence, request

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 72 «The Wind in the Willows, chapter XII, part 3: The Return of Ulysses (the invitations, «SPEECH BY TOAD» and «not one little song»)» 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/72-willows-ch12-part3-no-speeches-and-no-songs/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:72-willows-ch12-part3-no-speeches-and-no-songs:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the true motive underlying Toad's sudden acquiescence in the Badger's request.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
3	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
4	motive	motive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
5	underlying	underlying	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
6	Toad	Toad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	sudden	sudden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	acquiescence	acquiescence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	Badger	Badger	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	's	's	PART	POS	_	12	case	_	_
14	request	request	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | Toad's true motive underlying sudden acquiescence |  | the Badger's request |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent acquiescence=Topic |
| 2 | **acquiesce** |  | Toad |  |  | the Badger's request |  |  | nom acquiescence «state intransitive»: poss=agent in=place |
| 3 | **request** |  | the Badger |  |  |  |  |  | nom request «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To be polite

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:72-willows-ch12-part3-no-speeches-and-no-songs:e2:o1:1
# text = To be polite
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	3	mark	_	_
2	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	cop	_	_
3	polite	polite	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

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

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His design to fill the invitations with self-praise

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:72-willows-ch12-part3-no-speeches-and-no-songs:e2:o2:1
# text = His design to fill the invitations with self-praise
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	design	design	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	fill	fill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	invitations	invitation	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	self	self	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	praise	praise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fill** | to-infinitive | His design | the invitations |  |  |  | with self praise | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent invitation=Patient with praise=Instrument |
| 2 | **design** |  | His *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom design «act transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A wish to annoy the Rat

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:72-willows-ch12-part3-no-speeches-and-no-songs:e2:o3:1
# text = A wish to annoy the Rat
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	wish	wish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	annoy	annoy	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **annoy** | to-infinitive |  | the Rat |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus rat=Experiencer |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Simple obedience to Badger

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:72-willows-ch12-part3-no-speeches-and-no-songs:e2:o4:1
# text = Simple obedience to Badger
1	Simple	simple	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	obedience	obedience	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	Badger	Badger	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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.

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- ← previous: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter XII,…, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/72-willows-ch12-part3-no-speeches-and-no-songs/e1/)
- next →: [The Wind in the Willows, chapter XII,…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/72-willows-ch12-part3-no-speeches-and-no-songs/e3/)
- ↑ back to [The Wind in the Willows, chapter XII, part 3: The Return of Ulysses (the invitations, «SPEECH BY TOAD» and «not one little song»)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/72-willows-ch12-part3-no-speeches-and-no-songs/)