---
title: Why would an Arctic fox mother have over ten cubs one year and only… — Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs? · tree and pragmatics
description: Why would an Arctic fox mother have over ten cubs one year and only a few the next? Test 8 · ★★★ 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 wron
---

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# Test 8 · ★★★ · Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs?

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why would an Arctic fox mother have over ten cubs one year and only a few the next?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** Arctic fox mother · **What happens:** have over · **To what, where:** ten cubs

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★★ 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/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t8:1
# text = Why would an Arctic fox mother have over ten cubs one year and only a few the next?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
3	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	Arctic	arctic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
5	fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	over	over	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	ten	ten	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
10	cubs	cub	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
11	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	nummod	_	_
12	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl:unmarked	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
14	only	only	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	conj	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	next	next	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have over** | would | a Arctic fox mother | ten cubs |  |  | year |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cub=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 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The cubs from last year all came back

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t8:o1:1
# text = The cubs from last year all came back
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cubs	cub	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
3	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	all	all	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	back	back	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come back** | past | the cubs from last year |  |  |  |  | all *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Lemming numbers rose, then crashed

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t8:o2:1
# text = Lemming numbers rose, then crashed
1	Lemming	lemming	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	numbers	number	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	rose	rise	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	6	advmod	_	_
6	crashed	crash	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **rise** | past | Lemming numbers |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **crash** | past | Lemming numbers *not said here* |  |  |  | then |  | vn break-45.1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It got warmer, so more cubs fit in the den

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t8:o3:1
# text = It got warmer, so more cubs fit in the den
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	warmer	warm	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	2	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
5	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
6	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	7	amod	_	_
7	cubs	cub	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
8	fit	fit	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	den	den	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | past | It |  |  |  |  | warm *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **fit** | present | more cubs |  |  | the den |  |  | vn funnel-9.3-1 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent in den=Trajectory |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Foxes just choose a number at random

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs:t8:o4:1
# text = Foxes just choose a number at random
1	Foxes	fox	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	just	just	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	choose	choose	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	random	random	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **choose** | present | Foxes | a number |  | random |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.source NP.asset»: agent=Agent number=Theme at random=Asset |

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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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- ↑ back to [Myth check: do lemmings jump off cliffs?](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/150-myth-check-do-lemmings-jump-off-cliffs/)