---
title: Looking back: like Taffy, Old Man Kangaroo got more than he asked fo… — Just So Stories, How the First Letter… · tree and pragmatics
description: Looking back: like Taffy, Old Man Kangaroo got more than he asked for. What did he ask? Test 13 · ★ of lesson 86 «Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 3: «a great invention» and the road on Merrow Down» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pra
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention/t13/)

<!-- 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/) / [Just So Stories, How the First Letter…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention/) / t13

# Test 13 · ★ · Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 3:…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Looking back: like Taffy, Old Man Kangaroo got more than he asked for. What did he ask?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Looking, Man · **What happens:** look back, get, ask · **To what, where:** more

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 13 · ★ of lesson 86 «Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 3: «a great invention» and the road on Merrow Down» 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/86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention/#t13).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* Looking back: like Taffy, Old Man Kangaroo got more than he asked for.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t13:1
# text = Looking back: like Taffy, Old Man Kangaroo got more than he asked for.
1	Looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	10	csubj	_	_
2	back	back	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	5	punct	_	_
4	like	like	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	Taffy	Taffy	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	Old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	Man	Man	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
9	Kangaroo	Kangaroo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	flat	_	_
10	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	10	obj	_	_
12	than	than	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
13	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	advcl	_	_
15	for	for	ADP	IN	_	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look back** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | like Taffy and Old Man | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **get** | past | Looking | more |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer more=Stimulus |
| 3 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | Man |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* What did he ask?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t13:2
# text = What did he ask?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past · do-support | Man |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent what=Recipient |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To be left alone to dance on his rock in the middle of Australia

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t13:o1:1
# text = To be left alone to dance on his rock in the middle of Australia
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	3	mark	_	_
2	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	left	leave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	alone	alone	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	dance	dance	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	middle	middle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	Australia	Australia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **leave** | to-infinitive · passive |  |  |  |  |  | alone *property* | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V» |
| 2 | **dance** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | his rock |  | in the middle of Australia | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on rock=Location |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To be made strong

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t13:o2:1
# text = To be made strong
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	3	mark	_	_
2	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | to-infinitive · passive |  |  |  |  |  | strong *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP» |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To be made different and popular by five o'clock

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t13:o3:1
# text = To be made different and popular by five o'clock
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	3	mark	_	_
2	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	popular	popular	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	o'clock	o'clock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | to-infinitive · passive | five o'clock |  |  |  |  | different *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To have a pouch

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention:t13:o4:1
# text = To have a pouch
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	have	have	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	pouch	pouch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | to-infinitive |  | a pouch |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pouch=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: [Just So Stories, How the First Letter…, test 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention/t12/)
- next →: [Just So Stories, How the First Letter…, test 14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention/t14/)
- ↑ back to [Just So Stories, How the First Letter Was Written, part 3: «a great invention» and the road on Merrow Down](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/86-justso-first-letter-3-a-great-invention/)