Training grizzlies训练灰熊

孙淑珍

16岁那年的夏天，拉塞尔·查德威克与一只北美灰熊摔跤。从此，他的生活发生了改变。

Russell Chadwick remembers the summer he turned 16. It was the summer he wrestled（与……摔跤） with grizzly bears（北美灰熊）！

It all started when Russell worked as an animal trainer at Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife. Wasatch Wildlife is an animal?training center in Utah， the US. At the center， Doug and Lynne Seus train animals to be actors.

Doug and Lynne asked Russell to help take care of two four?month?old grizzly bear cubs named Little Bart and Honey Bump. Thats more challenging than it sounds. Baby bears are big！

Russells job was to play with the bears. This teaches them to be comfortable with humans. Playing with the bears was fun， but Russell had to remember that bears are wild animals and there are times that they may come at their trainers when they lose their temper.

“One time， Honey Bump took a bite out of my back， and I had to wrestle her to the ground. But it also showed me how smart she is. She knew she had done something wrong and ‘apologized by putting her head in my lap.”

Russell found that bears can understand more than just “sit” and “stay”. Sometimes， they are so smart that they can follow his instructions and react properly. For example， when Russell said “Peekaboo！” to one baby bear， he covered his eyes with his paws， just like a human child.

Russell didnt get much money for doing this job. But he enjoyed the experience. He also learned a lot from it. When youve wrestled with a grizzly bear， things like work and exams dont seem so difficult any more！ It is fun and amazing.

Reading Check

1. What is the text mainly about？

A. How to get a summer job in Utah.

B. Why wild animals make good actors.

C. What Russell Chadwick did for his summer job.

D. When Russell Chadwick made his career choice.

2. What was the main thing that Doug and Lynne Seus wanted Russell Chadwick to do？

A. Play with the bears.

B. Teach the bears to sit and stay.

C. Train the bears to live in the wild.

D. Find a mate for each bear.

3. What does the underlined word “he” in Para. 6 refer to？

A. Doug.              B. A baby bear.

C. A human child.          D. Russell Chadwick.

4. What is the main idea of the last paragraph？

A. Russell was enthusiastic about his job as an animal trainer.

B. Russell Chadwick didnt get enough money for his summer job.

C. Tests and homework are good ways to get ready for a summer job.

D. Russell Chadwicks experience influenced himself in many aspects.

Lan Study

Read the information below. Then match each underlined word with its definition.

There are many jobs that animal?lovers would be good at. For example， some people work as animal caregivers. Their job is to take care of animals. Animal caregivers need to feed， wash， and play with the animals they work with. People who enjoy teaching animals to do tricks could become trainers. Trainers can work in a pet store， an animal park， or a zoo， but if they want to train peoples pets， they have to be comfortable teaching the owners， too. Some animal?lovers become veterinarians（兽医）. Being an “animal doctor” can be fun sometimes. However， a vets work is often quite challenging.

1.                  ： not easy

2.                  ： to like or have fun doing something

3.                  ： okay with something; relaxed

4.                  ： to look after something and keep it safe