---
title: Ascertain the reason for which a domesticated parrot imitates human… — Animal minds: clever crows, ravens, ja… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which a domesticated parrot imitates human speech. Exam question 4 of lesson 233 «Animal minds: clever crows, ravens, jays and parrots» 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
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/233-animal-minds-clever-crows-ravens-jays-and-parrots/e4/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [questions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/) / [Animal minds: clever crows, ravens, ja…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/233-animal-minds-clever-crows-ravens-jays-and-parrots/) / e4

# Exam question 4 · Animal minds: clever crows, ravens, jays and parrots

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which a domesticated parrot imitates human speech.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 3 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, domesticated parrot · **What happens:** ascertain, imitate · **To what, where:** reason, human speech

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 233 «Animal minds: clever crows, ravens, jays and parrots» 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/233-animal-minds-clever-crows-ravens-jays-and-parrots/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:233-animal-minds-clever-crows-ravens-jays-and-parrots:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which a domesticated parrot imitates human speech.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	domesticated	domesticated	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	parrot	parrot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	imitates	imitate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
10	human	human	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	speech	speech	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	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 reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **imitate** | present | a domesticated parrot | human speech |  |  |  | for the reason | vn patent-101 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent speech=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.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is incapable of producing natural calls

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:233-animal-minds-clever-crows-ravens-jays-and-parrots:e4:o1:1
# text = It is incapable of producing natural calls
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|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	natural	natural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	calls	call	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | incapable *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **produce** | gerund |  | natural calls |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent call=Result |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It comprehends the full meaning of every utterance

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:233-animal-minds-clever-crows-ravens-jays-and-parrots:e4:o2:1
# text = It comprehends the full meaning of every utterance
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	comprehends	comprehend	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	full	full	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
8	utterance	utterance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **comprehend** | present | It | the full meaning of every utterance |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer meaning=Stimulus |
| 2 | **mean** |  |  | every utterance |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 · ← Mova's choice {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It imitates only words of a discourteous character

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:233-animal-minds-clever-crows-ravens-jays-and-parrots:e4:o3:1
# text = It imitates only words of a discourteous character
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	imitates	imitate	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	discourteous	discourteous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	character	character	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **imitate** | present | It | words of a discourteous character |  |  |  |  | vn patent-101 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Theme |
| 2 | **word** |  |  | a discourteous character |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It treats the members of the household as its flock

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:233-animal-minds-clever-crows-ravens-jays-and-parrots:e4:o4:1
# text = It treats the members of the household as its flock
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	treats	treat	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	members	member	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	household	household	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
8	as	as	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	flock	flock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **treat** | present | It | the members of the household |  |  |  | as household's flock | vn characterize-29.2 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent member=Theme as flock=Attribute |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [Animal minds: clever crows, ravens, ja…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/233-animal-minds-clever-crows-ravens-jays-and-parrots/e3/)
- next →: [Animal minds: the octopus, escape arti…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/234-animal-minds-the-octopus-escape-artist-and-puzzle-solver/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Animal minds: clever crows, ravens, jays and parrots](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/233-animal-minds-clever-crows-ravens-jays-and-parrots/)