---
title: The Arctic tundra: musk oxen, arctic foxes, snowy owls and the truth… — how Mova does on the tests · Biology
description: Lesson 168 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 4 of 11 tests right, exam 2 of 4, every question with the options, the student's choice, the right answer and why it chose.
---

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# The Arctic tundra: musk oxen, arctic foxes, snowy owls and the truth about lemmings

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**Tests:** 4 of 11 right · **Exam:** 2 of 4 right · **Kind:** ★ · **Understood:** 6 of 15 · **Run:** 2026-10-18, commit `f3c23ea72`

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Lesson 168 of the biology course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/168-the-arctic-tundra-musk-oxen-arctic-foxes-and-the-truth-about-lemmings/).

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Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson's questions in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/168-the-arctic-tundra-musk-oxen-arctic-foxes-and-the-truth-about-lemmings/).

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### Test 1 · ★ · right ✓ {#t1}

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In the game Lemmings, little creatures march off cliffs unless you stop them. What is true of real lemmings?

- **1.** They march off cliffs every day — score 1
- **2.** They float down from cliffs on tiny umbrellas, all together — no support
- **3.** They do not jump off cliffs on purpose; the idea is a myth — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 8
- **4.** They need a player to save them — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 8, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 168, line 8: «Lemmings do not jump off cliffs on purpose to die; their numbers rise and fall in cycles, and when crowded they spread out and some drown crossing water.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «cliffs» (+3); the same place «purpose» (+3); the same action «jump off» (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/168-the-arctic-tundra-musk-oxen-arctic-foxes-and-the-truth-about-lemmings/t1/)

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### Test 2 · ★ · right ✓ {#t2}

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«my teacher showed a video of lemmings jumping off a cliff so it's true» What is right?

- **1.** In that old film the lemmings were pushed off by the film makers — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 2
- **2.** Yes, they do it every spring to make space for others — score 1
- **3.** No, lemmings cannot climb cliffs — score 1
- **4.** Yes, filmed proof always means it is real — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 2, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 150, line 2: «The story became famous through a 1958 nature film: the film makers brought lemmings in and pushed them off a cliff for the camera, because they believed an ol…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «push off» (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/168-the-arctic-tundra-musk-oxen-arctic-foxes-and-the-truth-about-lemmings/t2/)

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### Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t3}

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«4 musk oxen in the circle, how many horns pointing out»

- **1.** 16 — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** 8 — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** 12 — no support
- **4.** 4 — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/168-the-arctic-tundra-musk-oxen-arctic-foxes-and-the-truth-about-lemmings/t3/)

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### Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t4}

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What would happen to an arctic fox that stayed brown in a snowy winter?

- **1.** It would hide better on the dark rocks and moss — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Its prey and enemies would spot it more easily — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** It would stay warmer — no support
- **4.** Nothing would change — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/168-the-arctic-tundra-musk-oxen-arctic-foxes-and-the-truth-about-lemmings/t4/)

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### Test 5 · ★ · right ✓ {#t5}

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«how do these owls hunt when it's daytime at midnight lol» What is right?

- **1.** They wait for the winter dark — score 3
- **2.** Snowy owls hunt in daylight too, because the summer sun never sets — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 9
- **3.** They do not hunt in summer at all, they live on fat — score 3
- **4.** They wear sunglasses — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 2 with score 9, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 6, line 12: «Snowy owls often hunt in daylight on the tundra; one may eat more than 1,500 lemmings in a year, and they lay more eggs when lemmings are plentiful.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «hunt» (+5); the same place «daylight» (+4). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/168-the-arctic-tundra-musk-oxen-arctic-foxes-and-the-truth-about-lemmings/t5/)

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### Test 6 · ★ · right ✓ {#t6}

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«caribou, reindeer, same thing or nah» What is right?

- **1.** Yes, caribou are called reindeer in Europe — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** No, caribou are a kind of goat — no support
- **3.** No, reindeer are moose — no support
- **4.** No, reindeer only live in stories and Christmas songs — no support

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**Why:** Nothing it remembers matched the question, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/168-the-arctic-tundra-musk-oxen-arctic-foxes-and-the-truth-about-lemmings/t6/)

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### Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t7}

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Builders dig into frozen ground in Siberia and find a hairy elephant-like animal. What is it most likely?

- **1.** A musk ox frozen in the ice of the sea — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** A woolly mammoth kept in the permafrost — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** A circus elephant with fur — no support
- **4.** A walrus — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/168-the-arctic-tundra-musk-oxen-arctic-foxes-and-the-truth-about-lemmings/t7/)

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### Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t8}

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«3 arctic hares hopping, no 5, how many long ears»

- **1.** 5 — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** 20 — no support
- **3.** 10 — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** 6 — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/168-the-arctic-tundra-musk-oxen-arctic-foxes-and-the-truth-about-lemmings/t8/)

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### Test 9 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t9}

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«the ground's frozen but there's mud on top, wtf» What is right?

- **1.** The mud fell from the sky — no support
- **2.** In summer only the top layer thaws, and the permafrost below stays frozen — **✓ the right answer** · score 2
- **3.** The ground is frozen only on top, and warm and muddy far below — **← Mova's choice** · score 5
- **4.** It is all frozen, there is no mud — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 5, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 57, line 15: «In autumn trees stop making green chlorophyll, so hidden yellows and oranges show through, and some trees make new reds; they take back useful material before…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «ground» (+4); the same action «freeze» (+1). The right option, 2, scored 2. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/168-the-arctic-tundra-musk-oxen-arctic-foxes-and-the-truth-about-lemmings/t9/)

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### Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t10}

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Why might a caribou herd climb to a windy hill on a summer day?

- **1.** To lay eggs — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** To get away from the deep snow — no support
- **3.** To escape clouds of mosquitoes — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** To look for trees — no support

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**Why:** Nothing it remembers matched the question, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/168-the-arctic-tundra-musk-oxen-arctic-foxes-and-the-truth-about-lemmings/t10/)

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### Test 11 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t11}

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A caterpillar froze solid in winter and crawls away in summer. How is that possible?

- **1.** It was a plastic toy — no support
- **2.** It never really froze — no support
- **3.** It is a different caterpillar each time, hatched from new eggs — **← Mova's choice** · score 3
- **4.** The Arctic woolly bear caterpillar survives freezing and thawing — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 3 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 48, line 10: «Inside the chrysalis most of the caterpillar breaks down into a soup, and groups of cells waiting since it hatched build wings, legs, eyes and antennae from it.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «caterpillar» (+2); the same action «hatch» (+1). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/168-the-arctic-tundra-musk-oxen-arctic-foxes-and-the-truth-about-lemmings/t11/)

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### Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓ {#e1}

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Identify the principal defensive behaviour adopted by a herd of musk oxen upon the approach of wolves.

- **1.** The formation of a ring with the calves enclosed and the horns outwards — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** Dispersal of the herd in all directions — no support
- **3.** Feigning death upon the ground — no support
- **4.** The concealment of the calves within burrows excavated in the snow — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/168-the-arctic-tundra-musk-oxen-arctic-foxes-and-the-truth-about-lemmings/e1/)

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### Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e2}

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Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the supposed mass suicide of lemmings.

- **1.** It is a well-attested phenomenon occurring every spring — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** It is undertaken by elderly lemmings exclusively — no support
- **3.** It is a myth propagated in part by a film of 1958 in which lemmings were deliberately driven over a cliff — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** It occurs only when lemmings are pursued by foxes — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/168-the-arctic-tundra-musk-oxen-arctic-foxes-and-the-truth-about-lemmings/e2/)

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### Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e3}

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Which of the following statements most accurately characterises permafrost?

- **1.** A species of lichen of the tundra — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** Snow which falls exclusively during the summer — no support
- **3.** Sea ice which forms in the winter months — no support
- **4.** Ground which remains frozen throughout the entire year — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/168-the-arctic-tundra-musk-oxen-arctic-foxes-and-the-truth-about-lemmings/e3/)

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### Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓ {#e4}

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Ascertain the reason for which the snowy owl hunts during the hours of daylight.

- **1.** It is fearful of darkness — no support
- **2.** Its eyes are incapable of vision at night — no support
- **3.** Its prey is active exclusively in daylight during the summer months — no support
- **4.** The sun does not set during the Arctic summer — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 8

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 106, line 7: «Snowy owls hunt in daylight in the Arctic summer, when the sun never sets, and eat mostly lemmings, raising many more chicks in good lemming years; Hedwig in H…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «set» (+5); the same doer «sun» (+3). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/168-the-arctic-tundra-musk-oxen-arctic-foxes-and-the-truth-about-lemmings/e4/)

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