---
title: ★ «Rat says nothing is as good as messing about in boats, so school… — Off with her head and the finest house… · tree and pragmatics
description: ★ «Rat says nothing is as good as messing about in boats, so school is pointless» What has gone wrong? Test 4 · ★ of lesson 54 «Off with her head and the finest house on the river: Alice and Toad» of the language course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the questio
---

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# Test 4 · ★ · Off with her head and the finest house on the river: Alice…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
★ «Rat says nothing is as good as messing about in boats, so school is pointless» What has gone wrong?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** ★, nothing, school, pointless · **What happens:** say, be, mess, go · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★ of lesson 54 «Off with her head and the finest house on the river: Alice and Toad» 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/54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad/#t4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad:t4:1
# text = ★ «Rat says nothing is as good as messing about in boats, so school is pointless» What has gone wrong?
1	★	★	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	8	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	as	as	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	ccomp	_	_
9	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
10	messing	mess	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	advcl	_	_
11	about	about	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	boats	boat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
15	so	so	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
16	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
17	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
18	pointless	pointless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	18	punct	_	_
20	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	22	nsubj	_	_
21	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	_
22	gone	go	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	ccomp	_	_
23	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | present | ★ |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | nothing |  |  |  |  | good *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **mess** *in a quote* | gerund | nothing *not said here* |  |  |  |  | about boats | tree rules |
| 4 | **is** *in a quote* | present | school |  |  |  |  | pointless *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **go** | present · perfect | pointless |  |  |  |  | wrong *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rat was lovingly exaggerating about what he enjoys most

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad:t4:o1:1
# text = Rat was lovingly exaggerating about what he enjoys most
1	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	lovingly	lovingly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	exaggerating	exaggerate	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
5	about	about	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	4	obl	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	enjoys	enjoy	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	acl:relcl	_	_
9	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Rat |  |  |  |  | most *obl*; lovingly *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **exaggerate** | gerund | Rat *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **enjoy** | present | Rat |  |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rat said that school is good, but that boats are even better

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad:t4:o2:1
# text = Rat said that school is good, but that boats are even better
1	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
4	school	school	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
8	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
9	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	10	det	_	_
10	boats	boat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
11	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
12	even	even	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	parataxis	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Rat |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | school |  |  |  |  | good *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | present | that boats |  |  |  |  | good *property* | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rat was being sarcastic about boats

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad:t4:o3:1
# text = Rat was being sarcastic about boats
1	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	cop	_	_
4	sarcastic	sarcastic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	about	about	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	boats	boat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Rat |  |  |  |  | about boats; sarcastic *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Rat is right, and boats are the only thing worth doing

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad:t4:o4:1
# text = Rat is right, and boats are the only thing worth doing
1	Rat	Rat	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
6	boats	boat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	only	only	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	parataxis	_	_
11	worth	worth	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
12	doing	do	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	11	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Rat |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | present | boats | the only thing |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **do** | gerund | boats *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «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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- ← previous: [Off with her head and the finest house…, test 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad/t3/)
- next →: [Off with her head and the finest house…, test 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad/t5/)
- ↑ back to [Off with her head and the finest house on the river: Alice and Toad](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/language/54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad/)