---
title: In a cartoon a lemming falls out of a storm cloud. Where might that… — Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs? · tree and pragmatics
description: In a cartoon a lemming falls out of a storm cloud. Where might that idea come from? Test 11 · ★★★ 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 was rig
---

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# Test 11 · ★★★ · Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs?

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In a cartoon a lemming falls out of a storm cloud. Where might that idea come from?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 3 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** lemming, idea · **What happens:** fall, come · **To what, where:** cartoon

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★★★ 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/#t11).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* In a cartoon a lemming falls out of a storm cloud.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t11:1
# text = In a cartoon a lemming falls out of a storm cloud.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cartoon	cartoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	lemming	lemming	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
6	falls	fall	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	out	out	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	storm	storm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	cloud	cloud	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fall** | present | a lemming |  |  | a cartoon |  | out a storm cloud | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in cartoon=Location |

<!-- .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:* Where might that idea come from?

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t11:2
# text = Where might that idea come from?
1	Where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	5	advmod	_	_
2	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	det	_	_
4	idea	idea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | might | that idea |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lemmings are carried up into the clouds by big birds and dropped again in storms

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t11:o1:1
# text = Lemmings are carried up into the clouds by big birds and dropped again in storms
1	Lemmings	lemming	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	carried	carry	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	up	up	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	into	into	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	clouds	cloud	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
8	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	dropped	drop	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
13	again	again	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	storms	storm	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **carry up** | present · passive | big birds | Lemmings |  | the clouds |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |
| 2 | **drop** | past | big birds *not said here* |  |  | storms | again |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme in storm=Trajectory |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lemmings really live in clouds

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t11:o2:1
# text = Lemmings really live in clouds
1	Lemmings	lemming	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	really	really	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	live	live	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	clouds	cloud	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **live** | present | Lemmings |  |  | clouds |  |  | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in cloud=Location |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An old folk story, because lemmings appear so suddenly in boom years

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t11:o3:1
# text = An old folk story, because lemmings appear so suddenly in boom years
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	folk	folk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	lemmings	lemming	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	appear	appear	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	suddenly	suddenly	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	boom	boom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **appear** | present | lemmings | a old folk story *not said here* |  |  | year | suddenly *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location story=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Scientists saw it happen in a lab

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t11:o4:1
# text = Scientists saw it happen in a lab
1	Scientists	scientist	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	obj	_	_
4	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	lab	lab	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | past | Scientists | it |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **happen** | infinitive |  |  |  | a lab |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in lab=Location |

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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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