2．Parrots have been known to mimic （模仿） words，but have you ever thought how they communicate （交流）？The sounds they make may sound
meaningless to us，but new study has found that wild parrots are given names by their parents.
According to a study led by Karl Berg of Cornell University in the US，nestlings （雛鳥） are given a special sound of their own，which stays with them for their whole lives.In the study，the team put cameras in the nests of 17 different wild parrots.After studying their sounds，the team knew differences in the calls parents used to communicate with each nestling.And even before the nestlings had learned to communicate，the baby birds seemed to mimic their calls.
Sounds very similar （相似） to humans，doesn't it？
The study also tells that these calls are got socially （社會上），not genetically （基因上地）.To do this，scientists exchanged the eggs in nine of the 17 nests，so that half of the parrots were raising nestlings that weren't theirs.The scientists found the nestlings all used names similar to those the parents （whether biological or nonbiological） called them for the first week of their lives.
Lucie Mcneil，from National Geographic，said， "this would be the first example of a non-human teaching acoustical （聲學(xué)的） communication （交流）." Lead scientist for the study，Karl Berg，told National Public Radio of the US， "Most people say， 'Well，all those calls are just noise，' but I think they're communicating."
Fox News also asked Berg what else the parrots might be saying.He answered， "It is that these birds are deciding where the food is — 'Do we want to go 3 km North-northwest？' 'Do we want to go to that field？' They are arguing （爭論） or discussing."
Natural science author，Virginia Morell，wrote： "Slowly，scientists get to know the communications of very different animals."
You never know，if the science of animals' sounds keeps going，we may one day watch a real TV programme about parrots.
（1）The underlined word "meaningless" in the first paragraph is "
".
A．meaningful
B．useful
C．unimportant
D．helpful
（2）What did the new study find about wild parrots？
A．They can talk by learning from people.
B．The sounds they make are meaningless.
C．They have names given by their parents.
D．They have a unique way of making sounds.
（3）What does the study suggest？
A．Different parrots are called differently by their parents.
B．Baby parrots can tell who their biological parents are.
C．Baby parrots can mimic their biological parents' calls better.
D．Parrots are the most clever animals in communication.
（4）Why did the scientists exchange the eggs in the study？
A．To see whether the parents could recognize （認(rèn)出） their own babies.
B．To see whether the parrots made the same sounds all their lives.
C．To see whether the calls were got socially or genetically.
D．To see whether biological and nonbiological parents named babies differently.
