---
title: ★ Alice boasts she'd think nothing of tumbling down stairs. A cartoo… — Off with her head and the finest house… · tree and pragmatics
description: ★ Alice boasts she'd think nothing of tumbling down stairs. A cartoon shows her cheerfully jumping off a roof. What is wrong? Test 5 · ★ 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 pr
---

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# Test 5 · ★ · Off with her head and the finest house on the river: Alice…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
★ Alice boasts she'd think nothing of tumbling down stairs. A cartoon shows her cheerfully jumping off a roof. What is wrong?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** ★, cartoon · **What happens:** boast, think, tumble down, show, jump off, be · **To what, where:** nothing, stairs, ★, roof · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★ 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/#t5).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* ★ Alice boasts she'd think nothing of tumbling down stairs.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad:t5:1
# text = ★ Alice boasts she'd think nothing of tumbling down stairs.
1	★	★	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	Alice	Alice	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	_
3	boasts	boast	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	'd	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
7	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	6	obj	_	_
8	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
9	tumbling	tumble	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	acl	_	_
10	down	down	ADP	RP	_	9	compound:prt	_	_
11	stairs	stair	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **boast** *speech: other* | present | ★ |  |  |  |  |  | vn complain-37.8 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **think** *speech: other* | would | ★ | nothing |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot nothing=Theme |
| 3 | **tumble down** | gerund |  | stairs |  |  |  |  | vn meander-47.7 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location stair=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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* A cartoon shows her cheerfully jumping off a roof.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad:t5:2
# text = A cartoon shows her cheerfully jumping off a roof.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	iobj	_	_
5	cheerfully	cheerfully	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	jumping	jump	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
7	off	off	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	roof	roof	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | present | a cartoon |  | ★ |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent she=Recipient |
| 2 | **jump off** | gerund | a cartoon *not said here* | a roof |  |  |  | cheerfully *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme roof=Trajectory |

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 3:* What is wrong?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad:t5:3
# text = What is wrong?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	wrong	wrong	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 |  |  |  |  |  | wrong *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, Alice really does jump off the house

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad:t5:o1:1
# text = Nothing, Alice really does jump off the house
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	Alice	Alice	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	really	really	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	jump	jump	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	off	off	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **jump off** | present · do-support | Nothing | the house |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Initial\_Location house=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It misses Carroll's joke; nobody should ever try such falls

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad:t5:o2:1
# text = It misses Carroll's joke; nobody should ever try such falls
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	misses	miss	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	Carroll	Carroll	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	joke	joke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
7	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	10	nsubj	_	_
8	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	10	advmod	_	_
10	try	try	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	conj	_	_
11	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	falls	fall	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **miss** | present | It | Carroll's joke |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer joke=Stimulus |
| 2 | **try** | should | nobody | such falls |  |  | ever |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fall=Eventuality |
| 3 | **joke** |  | Carroll |  |  |  |  |  | nom joke «communication intransitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Alice does it, but in the book she uses a parachute

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad:t5:o3:1
# text = Alice does it, but in the book she uses a parachute
1	Alice	Alice	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
5	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
9	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	uses	use	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	parachute	parachute	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present | Alice | it |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Eventuality |
| 2 | **use** | present | Alice | a parachute |  | the book |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent parachute=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cartoon should show her falling up instead

```conllu
# sent_id = question:language:54-off-with-her-head-and-the-finest-house-on-the-river-alice-and-toad:t5:o4:1
# text = The cartoon should show her falling up instead
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	show	show	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	falling	fall	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	xcomp	_	_
7	up	up	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
8	instead	instead	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **show** | should | the cartoon | her *= she* |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent she=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **fall up** | gerund | the cartoon *not said here* |  |  |  |  | instead *property* | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- 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 -->

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- ↑ 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/)