---
title: A scientist calls an idea «a just-so story». What does she mean? — Kipling's word games: «Best Beloved»,… · tree and pragmatics
description: A scientist calls an idea «a just-so story». What does she mean? Test 10 · ★★★ of lesson 42 «Kipling's word games: «Best Beloved», the 'Stute Fish, «Humph!» and the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the quest
---

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# Test 10 · ★★★ · Kipling's word games: «Best Beloved», the 'Stute Fish, «Hu…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A scientist calls an idea «a just-so story». What does she mean?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** scientist · **What happens:** call, mean · **To what, where:** idea · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 10 · ★★★ of lesson 42 «Kipling's word games: «Best Beloved», the 'Stute Fish, «Humph!» and the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo» of the language 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/language/42-kipling-s-word-games-best-beloved-stute-fish-humph-and-the-great-grey-green-greasy-limpopo/#t10).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* A scientist calls an idea «a just-so story».

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:42-kipling-s-word-games-best-beloved-stute-fish-humph-and-the-great-grey-green-greasy-limpopo:t10:1
# text = A scientist calls an idea «a just-so story».
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	scientist	scientist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	calls	call	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	idea	idea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
8	just	just	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	so	so	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** | present | a scientist | a idea |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent idea=Recipient |

<!-- .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 does she mean?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:42-kipling-s-word-games-best-beloved-stute-fish-humph-and-the-great-grey-green-greasy-limpopo:t10:2
# text = What does she mean?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	4	obj	_	_
2	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	mean	mean	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 | **mean** | present · do-support | scientist |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was written by Kipling himself

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:42-kipling-s-word-games-best-beloved-stute-fish-humph-and-the-great-grey-green-greasy-limpopo:t10:o1:1
# text = It was written by Kipling himself
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	written	write	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	Kipling	Kipling	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obl:agent	_	_
6	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write** | past · passive | Kipling | It |  |  |  | Kipling *obl* | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It has been tested many times and is certainly true

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:42-kipling-s-word-games-best-beloved-stute-fish-humph-and-the-great-grey-green-greasy-limpopo:t10:o2:1
# text = It has been tested many times and is certainly true
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	tested	test	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl:unmarked	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
9	certainly	certainly	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **test** | present · perfect · passive |  | It |  |  | time |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | certainly, true *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It sounds neat but nobody has tested it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:42-kipling-s-word-games-best-beloved-stute-fish-humph-and-the-great-grey-green-greasy-limpopo:t10:o3:1
# text = It sounds neat but nobody has tested it
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	sounds	sound	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	neat	neat	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
4	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
5	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	7	nsubj	_	_
6	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	tested	test	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sound** | present | It |  |  |  |  | neat *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **test** | present · perfect | nobody | it |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a bedtime story for babies

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:42-kipling-s-word-games-best-beloved-stute-fish-humph-and-the-great-grey-green-greasy-limpopo:t10:o4:1
# text = It is a bedtime story for babies
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	bedtime	bedtime	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	babies	baby	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a bedtime story |  |  |  | for babies | tree rules |

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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.

<!-- /div -->

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