---
title: It is given that a captive parrot has commenced removing its own fea… — Parrots: talkers, nutcrackers and long… · tree and pragmatics
description: It is given that a captive parrot has commenced removing its own feathers. Ascertain the most probable cause. Exam question 3 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 ea
---

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# Exam question 3 · Parrots: talkers, nutcrackers and long lives

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is given that a captive parrot has commenced removing its own feathers. Ascertain the most probable cause.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** give, commence, remove, ascertain · **To what, where:** It, captive parrot, own feathers, probable cause

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 3 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/#e3).

## The question {#question}

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* It is given that a captive parrot has commenced removing its own feathers.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives:e3:1
# text = It is given that a captive parrot has commenced removing its own feathers.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	captive	captive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	parrot	parrot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	commenced	commence	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	_
10	removing	remove	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	xcomp	_	_
11	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
12	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	feathers	feather	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | present · passive |  | It |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **commence** | present · perfect · passive |  | a captive parrot |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **remove** | gerund |  | parrot's own feathers |  |  |  |  | vn fire-10.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent feather=Theme |

<!-- .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.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Ascertain the most probable cause.

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives:e3:2
# text = Ascertain the most probable cause.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
3	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	4	advmod	_	_
4	probable	probable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the probable cause |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent cause=Topic |

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Boredom, loneliness or stress

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives:e3:o1:1
# text = Boredom, loneliness or stress
1	Boredom	boredom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
3	loneliness	loneliness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
4	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	stress	stress	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An excess of company and toys

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives:e3:o2:1
# text = An excess of company and toys
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	excess	excess	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	company	company	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	toys	toy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The approach of migration

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives:e3:o3:1
# text = The approach of migration
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	approach	approach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	migration	migration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **approach** |  | migration |  |  |  |  |  | nom approach «act intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A natural requirement for brighter plumage

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives:e3:o4:1
# text = A natural requirement for brighter plumage
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	natural	natural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	requirement	requirement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	brighter	bright	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	amod	_	_
6	plumage	plumage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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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.

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- ↑ back to [Parrots: talkers, nutcrackers and long lives](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives/)