---
title: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the… — Parrots: talkers, nutcrackers and long… · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the vocal capacity of parrots? Exam question 1 of lesson 206 «Parrots: talkers, nutcrackers and long lives» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova
---

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# Exam question 1 · Parrots: talkers, nutcrackers and long lives

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the vocal capacity of parrots?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, characteris · **To what, where:** vocal capacity

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 206 «Parrots: talkers, nutcrackers and long lives» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. 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/206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives:e1:1
# text = Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the vocal capacity of parrots?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	amod	_	_
5	statements	statement	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
6	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	7	advmod	_	_
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	vocal	vocal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	capacity	capacity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	parrots	parrot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **characteris** | present |  | the vocal capacity of parrots |  |  |  | of the following statements; accurately *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
Speech is produced by the teeth concealed within the beak

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives:e1:o1:1
# text = Speech is produced by the teeth concealed within the beak
1	Speech	speech	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	produced	produce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	teeth	tooth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	concealed	conceal	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
8	within	within	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	beak	beak	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **produce** | present · passive |  | Speech |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: subject=Result |
| 2 | **conceal** | past | the teeth |  |  |  |  | within the beak | vn concealment-16 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Sounds are learned and reproduced by means of a chest voice organ and a specialised region of the brain

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives:e1:o2:1
# text = Sounds are learned and reproduced by means of a chest voice organ and a specialised region of the brain
1	Sounds	sound	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	learned	learn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	nsubj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	reproduced	reproduce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	obl	_	_
7	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
10	chest	chest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	voice	voice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	organ	organ	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	specialised	specialis	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	16	amod	_	_
16	region	region	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	brain	brain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **learn** | present · passive |  | Sounds |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic |
| 2 | **reproduce** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  | of a voice organ and a specialised region of the brain | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **specialis** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Parrots are incapable of producing any learned sound

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives:e1:o3:1
# text = Parrots are incapable of producing any learned sound
1	Parrots	parrot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	incapable	incapable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	producing	produce	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	advcl	_	_
6	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	det	_	_
7	learned	learn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
8	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Parrots |  |  |  |  | incapable *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **produce** | gerund | Parrots *not said here* | any learned sound |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sound=Result |
| 3 | **learn** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Parrots are born possessed of a complete human vocabulary

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives:e1:o4:1
# text = Parrots are born possessed of a complete human vocabulary
1	Parrots	parrot	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	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	possessed	possess	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	xcomp	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
7	complete	complete	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
8	human	human	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	vocabulary	vocabulary	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bear** | present · passive |  | Parrots |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **possess** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | of a complete human vocabulary | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot |

<!-- div src -->

**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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