国家地理-2008-05-31 Brave Bear 北极熊觅食记

In Northern Canada, winter slowly loosens its grip, and a young polar bear is hungry. It sniffs¹ a meal already in progress, and decides to play a dangerous game, a food snatch.
 
His opponent is larger, older, and won’t tolerate a rival. A second try, he scores a quick nibble². It is a game of patience and cunning, but a loss can result in death. Adult males will kill younger bears if it suits them.
 
The older male has had enough. He charges, pushing the adolescent further and further back. The young one admits defeat, and retreats to safe ground. He begins a new game, a waiting game. The older bear devours³ his meal, licking the carcass, cleaning up blubber.
 
When the adult male has had his fill[1],he wanders off, leaving the scraps⁴ for his opponent. The young one feeds on the remains⁵. It wins a consolation⁶ prize[2] of sorts[3], a full belly⁷. But it will be a long time before it is ready to compete again.
 
Notes:
[1] (informal) to have done something or experienced something which you do not want any more
[2] a small prize given to someone who has failed to win
[3] =of a sort, meaning" in some respects but not entirely or truly "

Vocabulary Mix:
blubber: fat of sea animals from which oil is obtained

1 sniffs   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的第三人称单数 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When a dog smells food, he usually sniffs. 狗闻到食物时常吸鼻子。 来自辞典例句
• I-It's a difficult time [ Sniffs ] with my husband. 最近[哭泣]和我丈夫出了点问题。 来自电影对白

2 nibble   

n.轻咬，啃；v.一点点地咬，慢慢啃，吹毛求疵

参考例句：

• Inflation began to nibble away at their savings.通货膨胀开始蚕食他们的存款。
• The birds cling to the wall and nibble at the brickwork.鸟儿们紧贴在墙上，啄着砖缝。

3 devours   

吞没( devour的第三人称单数 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. 若有人想要害他们，就有火从他们口中出来，烧灭仇敌。
• It eats away parts of his skin; death's firstborn devours his limbs. 他本身的肢体要被吞吃，死亡的长子要吞吃他的肢体。

4 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

7 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。