---
title: «snow's freezing, how come lemmings don't freeze to death all winter… — Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs? · tree and pragmatics
description: «snow's freezing, how come lemmings don't freeze to death all winter» How do they survive? Test 5 · ★★★ 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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# Test 5 · ★★★ · Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs?

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«snow's freezing, how come lemmings don't freeze to death all winter» How do they survive?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** come lemmings, lemmings, snow · **What happens:** not freeze, survive, freeze

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 5 · ★★★ 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/#t5).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t5:1
# text = «snow's freezing, how come lemmings don't freeze to death all winter» How do they survive?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	snow	snow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	freezing	freezing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
6	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	11	advmod	_	_
7	come	come	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	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	freeze	freeze	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
14	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	15	det	_	_
15	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	11	punct	_	_
17	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	20	advmod	_	_
18	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
19	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
20	survive	survive	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **freeze** *in a quote* | present · do-support | come lemmings |  |  |  | winter | to death | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **survive** | present · do-support | lemmings *= lemming* |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **freeze** *in a quote* |  | snow |  |  |  |  |  | nom freezing «process intransitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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 -->
Lemmings swim south in the autumn

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t5:o1:1
# text = Lemmings swim south in the autumn
1	Lemmings	lemming	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	swim	swim	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	south	south	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	autumn	autumn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **swim** | present | Lemmings |  |  |  | autumn | south *property* | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Snow traps air like a blanket, keeping the space under it near freezing point, not far colder

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t5:o2:1
# text = Snow traps air like a blanket, keeping the space under it near freezing point, not far colder
1	Snow	snow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	traps	trap	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	like	like	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	blanket	blanket	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	keeping	keep	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	parataxis	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	space	space	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	under	under	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obl	_	_
13	near	near	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	freezing	freezing	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	point	point	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
17	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	19	advmod	_	_
18	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	19	advmod	_	_
19	colder	cold	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **trap** | present | Snow | air |  |  |  | like a blanket | vn trick-59.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent air=Patient |
| 2 | **keep** | gerund |  | the space |  | Snow |  | near freezing point | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent space=Theme under it=Location |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lemmings grow thick shells in winter

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t5:o3:1
# text = Lemmings grow thick shells in winter
1	Lemmings	lemming	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	grow	grow	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	thick	thick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	shells	shell	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grow** | present | Lemmings | thick shells |  |  | winter |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location shell=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lemmings sleep frozen solid inside the ice all winter without needing to breathe at all

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t5:o4:1
# text = Lemmings sleep frozen solid inside the ice all winter without needing to breathe at all
1	Lemmings	lemming	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	sleep	sleep	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	frozen	freeze	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	solid	solid	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	inside	inside	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	ice	ice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	9	det	_	_
9	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl:unmarked	_	_
10	without	without	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
11	needing	need	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	advcl	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	breathe	breathe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	xcomp	_	_
14	at	at	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	13	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **freeze** | present · passive |  | Lemmings |  | the ice | winter | solid *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Result |
| 2 | **need** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 3 | **breathe** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  |  |  | all |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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