---
title: «a squeaky lemming just stood up and squared up to me, they're cowar… — Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs? · tree and pragmatics
description: «a squeaky lemming just stood up and squared up to me, they're cowards though?» What is right? Test 10 · ★★★ 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 cho
---

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# Test 10 · ★★★ · Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs?

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«a squeaky lemming just stood up and squared up to me, they're cowards though?» What is right?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** squeaky lemming, they · **What happens:** stand up, square up, be · **To what, where:** me

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This is test 10 · ★★★ of lesson 150 «Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs?» 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/150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs/#t10).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* «a squeaky lemming just stood up and squared up to me, they're cowards though?»

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t10:1
# text = «a squeaky lemming just stood up and squared up to me, they're cowards though?»
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	squeaky	squeaky	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	lemming	lemming	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	just	just	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	stood	stand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	up	up	ADP	RP	_	6	compound:prt	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	squared	square	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
10	up	up	ADP	RP	_	9	compound:prt	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
14	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	're	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
16	cowards	cowards	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
17	though	though	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand up** *in a quote* | past | a squeaky lemming |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **square up** *in a quote* | past | a squeaky lemming *not said here* |  | me |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** *in a quote* | present | they |  |  |  |  | cowards, though *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 is right?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t10:2
# text = What is right?
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	right	right	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 |  |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Norwegian lemmings are bold and often stand their ground

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t10:o1:1
# text = Norwegian lemmings are bold and often stand their ground
1	Norwegian	Norwegian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	lemmings	lemming	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	bold	bold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
6	often	often	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	stand	stand	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
8	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Norwegian lemmings |  |  |  |  | bold *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **stand** | present | Norwegian lemmings *not said here* | lemmings's ground |  |  |  | often *property* | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer ground=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, lemmings always run and hide

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t10:o2:1
# text = Yes, lemmings always run and hide
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	lemmings	lemming	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	5	advmod	_	_
5	run	run	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	hide	hide	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **run** | present | lemmings |  |  |  |  | always *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **hide** | present | lemmings *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, it was probably ill

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t10:o3:1
# text = Yes, it was probably ill
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	probably	probably	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	ill	ill	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | it |  |  |  |  | ill, probably *property* | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
No, lemmings cannot make any sound

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t10:o4:1
# text = No, lemmings cannot make any sound
1	No	no	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Neg	6	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	lemmings	lemming	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
4	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	det	_	_
8	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **make** | can | lemmings | any sound |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset sound=Product |

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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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