---
title: What would happen to snowy owls in a year when lemming numbers crash? — Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs? · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen to snowy owls in a year when lemming numbers crash? Test 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 was wrong.
---

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# Test 4 · ★★★ · Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs?

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen to snowy owls in a year when lemming numbers crash?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** lemming numbers · **What happens:** happen, lemm, crash

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 4 · ★★★ 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/#t4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t4:1
# text = What would happen to snowy owls in a year when lemming numbers crash?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	snowy	snowy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	owls	owl	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
10	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	13	advmod	_	_
11	lemming	lemm	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	12	amod	_	_
12	numbers	number	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
13	crash	crash	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would |  |  |  |  | year | to snowy owls | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **lemm** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **crash** | infinitive | lemming numbers |  |  |  |  |  | vn break-45.1 «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 -->
Nothing at all would change for them

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t4:o1:1
# text = Nothing at all would change for them
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	5	nsubj	_	_
2	at	at	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	1	nmod	_	_
4	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	change	change	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **change** | would | Nothing |  |  |  |  | for them *= they* | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Many would raise few young or not nest at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t4:o2:1
# text = Many would raise few young or not nest at all
1	Many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	raise	raise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	young	young	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	obj	_	_
6	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	nest	nest	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **raise** | would | Many | few young |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent young=Theme |
| 2 | **not** **nest** | infinitive | Many *not said here* |  |  | all |  |  | vn berry-13.7 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They would raise bigger families than ever, with more babies in each nest

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t4:o3:1
# text = They would raise bigger families than ever, with more babies in each nest
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	raise	raise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	bigger	big	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	amod	_	_
5	families	family	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
6	than	than	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	with	with	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	11	amod	_	_
11	babies	baby	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	14	det	_	_
14	nest	nest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **raise** | would | They | bigger families |  | each nest |  | with more babies | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent family=Theme in nest=Destination |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They would start eating grass

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t4:o4:1
# text = They would start eating grass
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	start	start	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	eating	eat	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	xcomp	_	_
5	grass	grass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **start** | would | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **eat** | gerund | They *not said here* | grass |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent grass=Patient |

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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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