A “fierce queen” named “128 Grazer” has been crowned the fattest bear of all of Katmai National Park in Alaska. Grazer, a mama bear to two litters of cubs(幼兽), has been a fixture(固定成员) of the park since 2005.
This is Grazer’s first time winning the contest, an achievement made easier by the fact that she has released her cubs and was able to focus on self-care. When females are caring for cubs, they are often nursing them, helping them hunt for salmon(三文鱼) and providing them protection — all of which detracts from the females’ ability to eat as much as possible, said Felicia Jimenez, a ranger at Katmai National Park.
The brown bears living along Alaska’s Brooks River have spent the summer fattening up on salmon, berries and grasses in preparation for their annual winter hibernation(冬眠). The bears enter hibernation around November and eventually experience a one-third loss of their body weight through the winter season, according to park officials.
The fixed competition has been making the fattest brown bears at Katmai National Park compete against each other since 2014. When the contest first began, it consisted of just a single day in which a few of the park’s most enormous bears competed with each other. By the next year, the contest had transformed into a “globally recognized” event that required more days and more competitors.
The popularity of Fat Bear Week allows park officials to direct attention to conservation efforts in the region, especially for the salmon run on the Brooks River, which the bears rely on for food. The health of the brown bears signifies the overall health of the local ecosystem, according to the park. “Without the ecosystem protected, there would be no Fat Bear Week,” Jimenez said.
8. What contributed most to Grazer’s winning the contest?
A.Hunting for enough salmon. | B.Giving birth to her cubs. |
C.Concentrating on caring for herself. | D.Being a fixture in the park. |
9. What do the underlined words “
detracts from” in paragraph 2 mean?
A.Removes. | B.Weakens. | C.Strengthens. | D.Changes. |
10. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?
A.The process of bears’ hibernation. | B.The reason for bears’ fattening up. |
C.The time of bears’ hibernation. | D.The way of bears’ fattening up. |
11. What is the significance of the “Fat Bear Week”?
A.To choose the fattest bear globally. | B.To shoot the movie regarding bears. |
C.To draw attention to environment care. | D.To highlight the efforts to protect ecosystem . |