---
title: In an old Disney film lemmings throw themselves off a cliff. What re… — The polar zone: arctic foxes, snowy ow… · tree and pragmatics
description: In an old Disney film lemmings throw themselves off a cliff. What really happened? Test 4 of lesson 106 «The polar zone: arctic foxes, snowy owls, lemmings and reindeer» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's
---

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# Test 4 · The polar zone: arctic foxes, snowy owls, lemmings and rei…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In an old Disney film lemmings throw themselves off a cliff. What really happened?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** lemmings · **What happens:** throw off, happen · **To what, where:** lemmings, old Disney film

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 of lesson 106 «The polar zone: arctic foxes, snowy owls, lemmings and reindeer» of the biology 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/biology/106-the-polar-zone-arctic-foxes-snowy-owls-lemmings-reindeer/#t4).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In an old Disney film lemmings throw themselves off a cliff.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:106-the-polar-zone-arctic-foxes-snowy-owls-lemmings-reindeer:t4:1
# text = In an old Disney film lemmings throw themselves off a cliff.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
2	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
3	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
4	Disney	Disney	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	film	film	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
6	lemmings	lemming	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	throw	throw	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	7	obj	_	_
9	off	off	ADP	RP	_	7	compound:prt	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	cliff	cliff	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **throw off** | present | lemmings | lemmings *= lemming* |  | a old Disney film |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent themselves=Destination cliff=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:* What really happened?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:106-the-polar-zone-arctic-foxes-snowy-owls-lemmings-reindeer:t4:2
# text = What really happened?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	really	really	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	happened	happen	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lemmings really do it every year in spring when food runs out

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:106-the-polar-zone-arctic-foxes-snowy-owls-lemmings-reindeer:t4:o1:1
# text = Lemmings really do it every year in spring when food runs out
1	Lemmings	lemming	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	really	really	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	det	_	_
6	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	spring	spring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	11	advmod	_	_
10	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	runs	run	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
12	out	out	ADP	RP	_	11	compound:prt	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | present | Lemmings | it |  |  | spring; year |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Eventuality |
| 2 | **run out** | present | food |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was a cartoon, and real lemmings fly

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:106-the-polar-zone-arctic-foxes-snowy-owls-lemmings-reindeer:t4:o2:1
# text = It was a cartoon, and real lemmings fly
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	lemmings	lemming	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	fly	fly	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | It | a cartoon |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **fly** | present | real lemmings | a cartoon *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location cartoon=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The film makers pushed them; real lemmings do not do that

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:106-the-polar-zone-arctic-foxes-snowy-owls-lemmings-reindeer:t4:o3:1
# text = The film makers pushed them; real lemmings do not do that
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	film	film	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	makers	maker	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	pushed	push	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	11	punct	_	_
7	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	lemmings	lemming	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj	_	_
9	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
10	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
12	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **push** | past | the film makers | them *= they* |  |  |  |  | vn carry-11.4-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **do** | present · do-support | real lemmings | that |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent that=Eventuality |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They jump to fly to the sea

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:106-the-polar-zone-arctic-foxes-snowy-owls-lemmings-reindeer:t4:o4:1
# text = They jump to fly to the sea
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	jump	jump	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	fly	fly	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **jump** | present | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **fly** | to-infinitive | They *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to the sea *result* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.result»: agent=Theme to sea=Result |

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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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