---
title: ★★★ Trap: the story says the animals could "very seldom" be seen in… — Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 4:… · tree and pragmatics
description: ★★★ Trap: the story says the animals could "very seldom" be seen in the forest. Which is true? Test 15 · ★ of lesson 77 «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 4: How the Leopard got his Spots, part 1 (the game goes into the forest)» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree
---

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# Test 15 · ★ · Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 4: How the Leopard got…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
★★★ Trap: the story says the animals could "very seldom" be seen in the forest. Which is true?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** story · **What happens:** say, see, be · **To what, where:** animals, forest · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is test 15 · ★ of lesson 77 «Just So Stories (Rudyard Kipling), 4: How the Leopard got his Spots, part 1 (the game goes into the forest)» 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/77-justso-leopard-spots-1/#t15).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* ★★★ Trap: the story says the animals could "very seldom" be seen in the forest.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:77-justso-leopard-spots-1:t15:1
# text = ★★★ Trap: the story says the animals could "very seldom" be seen in the forest.
1	★	★	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	★	★	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	★	★	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	Trap	trap	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
12	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	very	very	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	seldom	seldom	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	14	punct	_	_
16	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	aux:pass	_	_
17	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	ccomp	_	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	forest	forest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | the story |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **see** | could · passive |  | the animals |  | the forest |  | seldom *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Stimulus |

<!-- .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:* Which is true?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:77-justso-leopard-spots-1:t15:2
# text = Which is true?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

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

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They could be seen sometimes, if you knew precisely where to look

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:77-justso-leopard-spots-1:t15:o1:1
# text = They could be seen sometimes, if you knew precisely where to look
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	sometimes	sometimes	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
10	precisely	precisely	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
11	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	13	advmod	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	advcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | could · passive |  | They |  |  |  | sometimes *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Stimulus |
| 2 | **know** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | you |  |  |  |  | precisely *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **look** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They could be seen easily, but only at night

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:77-justso-leopard-spots-1:t15:o2:1
# text = They could be seen easily, but only at night
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	easily	easily	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
8	only	only	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | could · passive |  | They |  |  | night | easily *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They could never be seen at all, not even by daylight

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:77-justso-leopard-spots-1:t15:o3:1
# text = They could never be seen at all, not even by daylight
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	12	advmod	_	_
10	even	even	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
11	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	daylight	daylight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **see** | could · passive | daylight | They |  | all |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer subject=Stimulus |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They could only be seen by Baviaan the Baboon

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:77-justso-leopard-spots-1:t15:o4:1
# text = They could only be seen by Baviaan the Baboon
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	Baviaan	Baviaan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	Baboon	Baboon	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	appos	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | could · passive | Baviaan | They |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer subject=Stimulus |

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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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