英语听力：自然百科 野性俄罗斯之西伯利亚 Siberia—18

 They won’t be strong enough to challenge for females until they are five years old. Til that day, they will regularly hone their sparring skills. They will stay with the group until they mature. 

 

During the long winter chill, Lake Baikal transforms from a flat expanse into cut crystal. Movement across its huge surface ruptures¹ and shifts the ice layers. 

 

Adult seals spend the winter alone, mostly in the water. But come April, they will have some company. This pup is the first of the season to emerge. Weaning for Baikal seals is abrupt². The mother starves herself during the eight weeks of feeding the pup in the snow den³, then she simply abandons it on the surface. 

 

Soon the icescape will be dotted with other emerging pups. Already this one is eager to explore its world. A layer of fat keeps it warm above and below the waterline, where icy cavens create a frozen paradise. 

 

But Siberia’s chilling reputation tells only half the story, the beauty as expansive as its borders and the diversity to rival any place on earth. This Russian land, mountains and lakes, forests and plains can only be described in a single surprising word--Siberia.

1 ruptures   

n.（体内组织等的）断裂( rupture的名词复数 )；爆裂；疝气v.（使）破裂( rupture的第三人称单数 )；（使体内组织等）断裂；使（友好关系）破裂；使绝交

参考例句：

• Fault ruptures may consist of a single narrow main break. 断层破裂可能只包括单独一条狭窄的主裂隙。 来自辞典例句
• The dry seed ruptures and the green leaf uncurls. 干瘪的种子裂开了，卷曲的绿叶伸展了。 来自辞典例句

2 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

3 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。