听力文本

When I was a boy the story I liked best was one about wolves in Russia.
Some Russians in a sleigh were driving across the snow, when they were attacked by a pack of hungry wolves.
The men whipped up their horses, but the wolves drew nearer and nearer.
When the wolves were just about to spring upon the sleigh the men threw out food, which the wolves stopped a moment to devour, allowing the sleigh to get ahead.
But the wolves caught up and again food was thrown out and again and again, till there was no food left.
See if you can guess the end of the story, or make up an ending of your own.
Naturally, I used to think of Russia as a land of wolves, though for some reason people call Russia "The Bear."
Russia is a huge country—it is the largest country in Europe—it is as large as all the other countries of Europe put together,
and in the far north there are wolves, snow, and sleighs.
But there is also a middle Russia which is not so cold and a southern Russia which is quite warm.
In the north of Russia it is so cold that even in summer when the snow has gone and the ground has thawed out on top,
the ground underneath remains frozen stiff, and, though grass and even flowers grow above, the ground below remains hard and icy.
These frozen lands are called "tundras," and there are thousands of miles of such tundras across the north of Russia.
At the top of Russia is a sea called "White" and at the bottom of Russia a sea called "Black."
The White Sea, I suppose, is called “White” because it is frozen over most of the year and covered with snow—and yet,
during a few months of the summer when the ice in it has melted, great ships sail into the White Sea,
bringing in loads of all sorts of goods to the one great port on this sea—a city called Archangel—a name that makes one think of heaven.

参考译文

我小时候最喜欢的故事，是关于俄罗斯狼群的。
一些俄罗斯人，驾驶着雪橇，穿过雪地，突然遭到一群饿狼的袭击。
雪橇上的人用鞭子抽打马，促马快跑，但是狼群还是越逼越近。
正当狼群就要扑向雪橇之际，雪橇上的人扔出一些食物，狼群就停下去吞食，这让雪橇可以继续向前跑。
但是狼群很快就追上来了，于是又扔出食物，狼群再次赶上来了，再扔，直到食物全部扔完。
你猜结果会是怎样呢？或者你自己为这个故事编一个结尾。
听了这样的故事，我一直想当然地认为俄罗斯就是狼的故乡，不过现在由于某种原因俄罗斯被称为“熊”。
俄罗斯国土辽阔——它是欧洲最大的国家——面积相当于欧洲其他所有国家加在一起那么大。
在遥远的俄罗斯北部，有狼群，有雪原，还有雪橇。
但是，俄罗斯的中部没有那么冷，南部还相当的温暖。
俄罗斯北部非常寒冷，即使在夏季，雪已经没有了，地面表层也解冻了，
但是地下仍然是冻得结结实实；尽管地面长着绿草，甚至还开着鲜花，地下还是又硬又结了冰。
这些结冰的土地被称为“冻原”。在俄罗斯北部有数千英里这样的冻原。
在俄罗斯的上方有一片海，叫“白海”，在它的下方，也有一片海，叫“黑海”。
我猜测，白海之所以被称为“白海”是因为一年大部分时间它都结着冰，被雪覆盖着；然而，
在夏季的几个月里，冰融化了，许多大船也能驶进白海，
载着各种各样的货物抵达白海主要的一个大港口—一座叫阿尔汉格尔斯克的城市—这个名字让人想到天堂。