Why is macbeth upset when he sees malcolm's army carrying branches from birnam wood?
a. because the trees in birnam wood protect the castle
b. because his wife will be sad that birnam wood has been destroyed
c. because he fears the army will set his castle on fire
d. because one of the witches' prophecies has come true

The correct answer is D. because one of the witches' prophecies has come true.

At the beginning of the play, a witch made a prophecy about Macbeth - she told him that he will become king soon, but that he will die when the Birnam Wood comes near his castle. He scoffed at this because he thought this was impossible, but when that actually happened, he started fearing for his life (and he did die in the end).

the sentence does not violate the phrase structure second rule (introduced by noam chomsky) because noun phrases consist of a determiner such as a, the or every, and a noun. in the sentence, the noun phrase the cake includes a determiner (the) and a noun (cake).

on the other hand, the first rule indicates that a sentence encloses a noun phrase, followed by a verb phrase. the example sentence can be analysed as follows:

john (n) + ate (v) + the (det) + cake (n).