陳蕙雅思教材 - 雅思閱讀精選 (American Black Bears)

American Black Bears

American black bearsappear in a variety of colors despite their name. In

the eastern part of theirrange, most of    these bears have shinyblack fur,

but in the west they growbrown, red, or even yellow coats. To the north,

the      black bear is actually gray or white incolor. Even in the same litter,

both brown and blackfurred bears may be        born.

Black bears are thesmallest of all American bears, ranging in length from

five to six feet,weighing from three        hundred to fivehundred pounds. Their

eyes and ears are smalland their eyesight and hearing are not as good as    

their sense of smell.

Like all bears, the blackbear is timid, clumsy, and rarely dangerous, but

if attacked, most canclimb trees and       cover  ground at great speeds. When  

angry or frightened,  it is a formidable enemy.

Black bears feed onleaves, herbs, roots, fruit, berries, insects, fish,

and even larger animals.One of the most          interestingcharacteristics of

bears, including theblack bear, is their winter sleep. Unlike squirrels,  

 woodchucks, and  many  other woodland  animals,  bears do  not  

actually

hibernate. Although thebear does not eat during the winter months,

sustaining itself frombody fat, its temperature remains almost normal, and

it breathes     regularly four or five times per minute.

Most black bearslive  alone,  except during mating season. They  prefer

to live  in caves, hollow logs, or dense         thickets.A litter of one to four

cubs is born in Januaryor February after a gestation period of six to nine  

months, and they remainwith their  mother until they are fullygrown or

about one and a halfyears old. Black bears can live as long as thirty

years in the wild, andeven longer in game preserves set aside for them.

美國黑熊

美國黑熊雖然被叫做黑熊但卻有各種各樣的顏色。  在它們生活區域的東部，大部分黑 熊長有富有光澤的黑毛，但在西部，他們則長著棕色、紅色甚至是黃色的毛。  

在北部，黑 熊其實長著灰色或白色的毛。 就是在一胎所生的小熊中，都可能混雜棕毛和黑毛。 黑熊是 所有美洲熊中最小的，5～6 英尺長，300～500

磅重。  它們的眼睛和耳朵都很小，他們的視 力和聽覺不如嗅覺那樣好。  像所有的熊一樣，黑熊膽小，笨拙，很少具有危險性。  但如果

受到攻擊，大部分黑熊會以很快的速度爬上樹和奔跑。  當發怒或受驚嚇時，黑熊會成為可 怕的對手。  

黑熊以樹葉、草、樹根、水果、漿果、昆蟲、魚，甚至更大的動物為食。  熊類， 包括黑熊的最有趣的一個特點是他們的冬眠。  

與松鼠、旱獺和其它別的林地動物不同，熊 並不真正地冬眠。  雖然熊在冬天的幾個月中不吃東西，靠體內脂肪維持生命，但它們的體

溫保持正常，並有規律地一分鐘呼吸 4 或 5 次。除交配季節外，大多數黑熊獨自生活。  他 們喜歡住在洞裡、空心的大木頭裡或茂密的樹叢裡。  經過 6

到 9 個月的懷孕期後一胎 1～4 個小熊在 1 月或 2 月出生。  它們同母熊住在一起，直到它們完全長大，即 1 歲半左右。  黑

熊在野外可以活到長達 30 年，在專門的保護區中甚至能活得更長。