★ Words: 180; Time: 2.5 minutes
Gary Gero says he has the best job in the world. As one of Hollywood’s top animal trainers, Gero prepares his animal “talent” for their onscreen performances.
Recently, Gero completed work for the movie Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which opens in theaters June 4. His team, which included six trainers for this movie, worked with dozens of animals. Their line-up for the film included cats, dogs, owls(猫头鹰), rats, crows — and even a hippo(河马)!
Fang the dog, Mrs. Norris the cat, Scabbers the rat, and Hedwig the owl star in this film. They also appeared in the previous Harry Potter films.
To train the animals, Gero and his team reward them with food and praise when they follow instructions correctly. Owls may get a reputation for being wise, but Gero knows differently. Gero said that Hedwig learned to fly in front of a fan — a trick that was mastered after six months of training.
“Owls are difficult to train because they’re not very clever,” he said. “It takes a long time to teach them things.”
Help:
line-up: a group of people, especially performers, who have agreed to be involved in an event
reputation: the opinion that people have about someone or sth. based on their behavior or character in the past