Grizaly bears, which may grow to about 2.5m long and weigh over 400kg, occupy a conflicted corner of the American psyche-we revere them even as they give us frightening dreams. Ask the tourists from around the world that flood into Yellowstone National Park what they most hope to see, and their answer is often the same: a grizzly bear.

"Grizzly bears are re-occupying large areas of their former range," says bear biologist Chris Servheen. As grizzly bears expand their range into places where they haven't been seen in a century or more,they're incresingly being sighted by humans.

The western half of the U.S. was full of grizzlies when Europeans came, with a rough number of 50,000 or more living alongside Native Americans. By the early 1970s, after centuries of cruel and continuous hunting by settlers, 600 to 800 grizzlies remained on a mere 2 percent of their former range in the Northern Rockies. In 1975, grizzlies were listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Today, there are about 2,000 or more grizzly bears in the U.S. Their recovery has been so successful that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has twice attempted to delist grizzlies, which would loosen legal protections and allow them to be hunted. Both efforts were overturned due to lawsuits from conservation groups. For now, grizzlies remain listed.

Obviously,if precautionsaren't taken, grizzlies can become troublesome, sometimes killing farm animals or walking through yards in search of food. If people remove food and attractants from their yards and campsites, grizzlies will typically pass by without trouble. Putting electric fencing around chicken houses and other farm animal quarters is also highly effective at getting grizzlies away."Our hopes to have a clean, attractant-free place where bears can pass through without learning bad habits," says James Jonkel, longtime biologist who manages bears in and around Missoula.

Questions:
question_stem: How do Americans look at grizlies?
choices: tag: A
text: They cause mixed feelings in people.

tag: B
text: They should be kept in national parks.

tag: C
text: They are of high scientific value.

tag: D
text: They are a symbol of American culture.
answer_key: A

question_stem: What has helped the increase of the grizzly population?
choices: tag: A
text: The European settlers' behavior.

tag: B
text: The expansion of bears' range.

tag: C
text: The protection by law since 1975.

tag: D
text: The support of Native Americans.
answer_key: C

question_stem: What has stopped the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from delisting grizzlies?
choices: tag: A
text: The opposition of conservation groups.

tag: B
text: The successful comeback of grizzlies.

tag: C
text: The voice of the biologists.

tag: D
text: The local farmers' advocates.
answer_key: A

question_stem: What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
choices: tag: A
text: Food should be provided for grizzlies.

tag: B
text: People can live in harmony with grizzlies.

tag: C
text: A special path should be built for grizzlies.

tag: D
text: Technology can be introduced to protect grizzlies.
answer_key: B