Question

more than a mascot
creating connections social studies: world history iii
in the mountains of iran, in the middle of world war ii (1939–1945), a group of polish soldiers met a young orphan—and they couldn’t bear to leave him behind. eventually their young charge would become a hero. a very, very big one. it would be easy to assume this orphan was a child. in fact, he was a brown bear cub. the soldiers were on their way to meet up with allied forces from siberia. they adopted the cub, whose mother, they were told, had been shot and killed. they named him wojtek (pronounced voy-tek), polish for “joyous soldier.” it wasn’t long before he was living up to his name. since he may still have been blind (as are all bears at birth) when he lost his mother, it’s likely that wojtek had never seen another bear. and since the men took turns feeding him canned condensed milk from a bottle at first and later let him sit at the campfire with them as he ate fruit, honey, and syrup, wojtek probably assumed he was human. historians say that wojtek became the soldiers’ morale - boosting mascot. the
question 2
according to the article, which of these happened second?
hint
a. wojtek was promoted to corporal for his bravery during the battle of monte cassino in italy.
b. wojtek entertained his visitors, including fellow soldiers, at the edinburgh zoo in scotland.
c. polish soldiers learned wojtek was not allowed on ships bound for the european front lines.
d. polish soldiers came across wojtek on their way from siberia to meet up with allied forces.

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze each option against the article. Option A: Wojtek was promoted to corporal for bravery in the Battle of Monte Cassino (this is a known historical fact about Wojtek). Option B: The article doesn't mention him entertaining at Edinburgh Zoo. Option C: The article states he was with soldiers, not that soldiers learned he was blind (the text says "it's likely that Wojtek had never seen another bear at birth" and "may still have been blind", but no mention of soldiers learning this). Option D: The article says the soldiers met the cub (Wojtek) in Iran, not that they came across him on the way from Siberia to meet Allied forces (they adopted the cub whose mother was killed in 1942 in Siberia, but the meeting with the soldiers was in Iran). So A is correct.

Answer:

A. Wojtek was promoted to corporal for his bravery during the Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy.