---
title: True or false: the story says whales today never eat men or boys or… — Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 1:… · tree and pragmatics
description: True or false: the story says whales today never eat men or boys or little girls, because of the grating. Test 6 · ★ of lesson 74 «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 1: How the Whale got his Throat» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question
---

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# Test 6 · ★ · Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 1: How the Whale got hi…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
True or false: the story says whales today never eat men or boys or little girls, because of the grating.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** story · **What happens:** say, not eat · **To what, where:** whales, men · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 6 · ★ of lesson 74 «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 1: How the Whale got his Throat» 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/74-justso-whale-throat/#t6).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:74-justso-whale-throat:t6:1
# text = True or false: the story says whales today never eat men or boys or little girls, because of the grating.
1	True	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
2	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	false	false	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
8	whales	whale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
9	today	today	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl:unmarked	_	_
10	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	ccomp	_	_
12	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	_
13	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	boys	boy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	conj	_	_
15	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
16	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	girls	girl	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
19	because	because	ADP	IN	ExtPos=ADP	22	case	_	_
20	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	fixed	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	grating	grating	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | the story | whales |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **eat** | present |  | men or boys or little girls |  |  | today |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent man=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 -->
False: Kipling says whales eat men, but only in the old days before the grating

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:74-justso-whale-throat:t6:o1:1
# text = False: Kipling says whales eat men, but only in the old days before the grating
1	False	false	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	1	punct	_	_
3	Kipling	Kipling	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	whales	whale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
7	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
9	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
10	only	only	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
15	before	before	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	grating	grating	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | False Kipling |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **eat** | present | whales | men |  |  | before the grating; day |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent man=Patient |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
True: that is the story's made-up reason

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:74-justso-whale-throat:t6:o2:1
# text = True: that is the story's made-up reason
1	True	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	11	punct	_	_
3	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	11	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	up	up	ADP	RP	_	8	compound:prt	_	_
11	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make up** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is a** | present | that | the story's True made reason |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
False: whales eat only krill today

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:74-justso-whale-throat:t6:o3:1
# text = False: whales eat only krill today
1	False	false	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	1	punct	_	_
3	whales	whale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	krill	krill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	today	today	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl:unmarked	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | present | False whales | krill |  |  | today |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent krill=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
True: because the grating stopped them, as every zoologist still agrees in 1900

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:74-justso-whale-throat:t6:o4:1
# text = True: because the grating stopped them, as every zoologist still agrees in 1900
1	True	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	6	punct	_	_
3	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	grating	grating	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	stopped	stop	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	1	parataxis	_	_
7	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
9	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
10	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	11	det	_	_
11	zoologist	zoologist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
12	still	still	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	agrees	agree	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	1900	1900	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stop** | past | the grating | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Subeventuality they=Eventuality |
| 2 | **agree** *speech: agree* | present | every zoologist |  |  | 1900 | still |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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