---
title: Ascertain the effect upon lemmings of rain falling upon snow and sub… — Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs? · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the effect upon lemmings of rain falling upon snow and subsequently freezing. Exam question 4 of lesson 150 «Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs?» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice w
---

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# Exam question 4 · Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs?

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the effect upon lemmings of rain falling upon snow and subsequently freezing.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, rain · **What happens:** ascertain, fall, freeze · **To what, where:** effect, snow

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 150 «Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs?» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the effect upon lemmings of rain falling upon snow and subsequently freezing.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	effect	effect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	lemmings	lemming	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
8	falling	fall	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	acl	_	_
9	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	snow	snow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	subsequently	subsequently	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	freezing	freeze	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the effect |  |  |  | upon lemmings of rain | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent effect=Topic |
| 2 | **fall** | gerund | rain *not said here* |  |  | snow |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme upon snow=Location |
| 3 | **freeze** | gerund | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | subsequently *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

<!-- .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 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ice increases the quantity of food available

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:e4:o1:1
# text = The ice increases the quantity of food available
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	increases	increase	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	quantity	quantity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
8	available	available	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **increase** | present | the ice | the quantity of food |  |  |  | available *property* | vn caused\_calibratable\_cos-45.6.2-1 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Causer quantity=Patient |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ice affords additional warmth and safety

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:e4:o2:1
# text = The ice affords additional warmth and safety
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	affords	afford	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	additional	additional	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	warmth	warmth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	safety	safety	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **afford** | present | the ice | additional warmth and safety |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Layers of ice may sever access to food and saturate the nests

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:e4:o3:1
# text = Layers of ice may sever access to food and saturate the nests
1	Layers	layer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	nmod	_	_
4	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	sever	sever	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	access	access	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	saturate	saturate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	nests	nest	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sever** | may | Layers of ice | access |  |  |  | to food | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent access=Theme |
| 2 | **saturate** | infinitive | Layers of ice *not said here* | the nests |  |  |  |  | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme nest=Destination |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The ice exerts no effect whatever upon the animals, which remain secure within the soil

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:e4:o4:1
# text = The ice exerts no effect whatever upon the animals, which remain secure within the soil
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	exerts	exert	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	5	det	_	_
5	effect	effect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	whatever	whatever	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	9	det:predet	_	_
7	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	12	nsubj	_	_
12	remain	remain	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	acl:relcl	_	_
13	secure	secure	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	xcomp	_	_
14	within	within	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	soil	soil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **exert** | present | the ice | no effect |  |  |  | upon whatever animals | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent effect=Theme |
| 2 | **remain** | present | whatever animals |  |  |  |  | within the soil; secure *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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