I have worked as a keeper at the National Zoo, Paris for 11 years. Spot and Stripe are the first tiger cubs that have ever been born here. Globally, a third of Sumatran cubs in zoos don’t make it to adulthood, so I decided to give them round-the-clock care at home.
我在巴黎国家动物园工作了11年，是一名饲养员。斑点和条纹是这里有史以来出生的第一对老虎幼崽。全球来说，三分之一的苏门答腊老虎幼崽在动物园里不能成年，因此我决定在家给它们提供全天候的照料。

I’ve got two children—the younger one, Kynan, was extremely happy about the tigers arriving - but all of us really looked forward to being part of their lives and watching them grow. I wasn’t worried about bringing them into my home with my wife and kids. These were cubs. They weighed about 2.5 kg and were so small that there was absolutely no risk.
我有两个孩子，较小的一个Kynan非常高兴老虎来了，但我们全家都很期待成为它们生活的一部分，看着它们成长。我对把它们带回家和妻子、孩子们在一起并不担心。这些都是幼崽。它们只有约2.5公斤，非常小，完全没有风险。

As they grew more mobile, we let them move freely around the house during the day, but when we were asleep we had to contain them in a large room, otherwise they’d get up to mischief. We’d come down in the morning to find they’d turned the room upside down, and left it looking like a zoo.
随着它们变得更加活跃，我们让它们在白天自由地在房子里活动，但当我们睡觉时，我们不得不把它们关在一个大房间里，否则它们会调皮捣乱。早上我们下来后会发现它们把房间弄得乱七八糟，像动物园一样。

Things quickly got very intense due to the huge amount of energy required to look after them. There were some tough times and I just felt extremely tired. I was grateful that my family was there to help. We had to have a bit of a production line going, making up “tiger milk”, washing baby bottles, and cleaning the floors.
由于照顾它们需要极大的精力，事情很快变得非常紧张。有一段时间很艰难，我感到非常疲倦。我感激我的家人在那里帮忙。我们需要建立一个“老虎奶”生产线，清洗奶瓶，清洁地板。

When Spot and Stripe were four months old, they were learning how to open doors and jump fences, and we knew it really was time for them to go. It was hard for us to finally part with them. For the first few days, Kynan was always a bit disappointed that the cubs weren’t there.
当斑点和条纹四个月大时，它们学会了如何打开门和跳过篱笆，我们知道是时候让它们离开了。最终与它们告别对我们来说很难。开始的几天，Kynan总是有点失望，因为老虎幼崽不在了。

I’m not sad about it. I’m hands-on with them every day at the zoo, and I do look back very fondly on the time that we had them.
我并不感到难过。我每天都亲自照看它们在动物园里，我对我们和它们在一起的时光充满了美好回忆。

1. Why did the author bring the tiger cubs home?
   A. To ensure their survival. B. To observe their differences.
   C. To teach them life skills. D. To let them play with his kids.
   答案：A

2. What do the underlined words “get up to mischief” mean in paragraph 3?
   A. Behave badly. B. Lose their way. C. Sleep soundly. D. Miss their mom.
   答案：A

3. What did the author think of raising the tiger cubs at home?
   A. Boring. B. Tiring. C. Costly. D. Risky.
   答案：B

4. Why did the author decide to send Spot and Stripe back to the zoo?
   A. They frightened the children. B. They became difficult to contain.
   C. They annoyed the neighbours. D. They started fighting each other.
   答案：B