Directions: READ the passage, and answer the question that follows.
Alex the Parrot
"Calm down," Alex, an African Gray parrot, told Dr. Irene Pepperbers, the scientist who owns him. "Don't
tell me to calm down," Dr. Pepperberg snapped. Sometimes Dr. Pepperberg and Alex squabble like an old
married couple. He even says, "I love you."
For the last 22 years, Dr. Pepperberg has been teaching Alex, who is 23, to do complex tasks that only a few
nonhuman species -- chimpanzees, for instance -- have been able to perform. But unlike those other
creatures, Alex can talk! And, Dr. Pepperberg says, Alex doesn'tjust imitate human speech, as other
parrots do -- Alex can think.
So, just how smart is Alex? Dr. Pepperberg says he
can identify 50 different objects and count up to
six. He can tell the difference between 7 different
colors and 5 shapes. He can also compare objects
by using the words "bigger," "smaller," "sante"