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 from siberia
to meet up with allied forces in 1942 when
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
image credit: the polish institute and
sikorski museum - london
the article primarily discusses ______.
a. how an orphaned brown bear named wojtek became a
morale - boosting mascot and fellow soldier to the polish ii
corps army unit during world war ii
b. the emblem design for the 22nd artillery supply company,
which features an artillery - toting bear in honor of the
polish ii corps’s mascot, wojtek
c. the claims that wojtek carried 100 - pound (45 - kilogram)
crates of ammunition to resupply troops during combat
encounters in world war ii
d. how wojtek may have been blind, like all brown bears at
birth, when polish soldiers found him on their way from
siberia to meet up with allied forces

Explanation:

The article focuses on the story of Wojtek, an orphaned brown bear who became a morale - boosting mascot and a fellow soldier - like figure to the Polish II Corps during World War II. Option A accurately captures this main theme. Option B is about an emblem design, which is not the primary focus. Option C is about a specific action of carrying ammunition, not the main discussion. Option D is about his possible blindness and a meeting, which is a minor detail.

Answer:

A. how an orphaned brown bear named Wojtek became a morale - boosting mascot and fellow soldier to the Polish II Corps army unit during World War II