Lianne Kolirin

“世界最丑草坪”大賽始于瑞典哥特蘭，第三屆的獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)邉P瑟琳·默里來(lái)自澳大利亞塔斯馬尼亞州的桑福德。

The“ World＇s Ugliest Lawn” contest，now in its third year， began in Gotland，Sweden， as an attempt to reduce waterusage during a drought. This is the firstyear that the contest has permitted globalentries. Contestants submitted entries fortop honors from the United States， Britain，Croatia， Canada， France， Germany， andAustralia.

Kathleen Murray， this year＇s winner，is from Sandford， Tasmania， in Australia.Her lawn is truly the world＇s ugliest lawn.In an interview， Kathleen blamed theoverall condition of her lawn mostly onbandicoots （袋貍鼠）， stating，“ The bandicootslove digging—that＇s how they findtheir favorite food.”

She also added that an echidna （針鼴） and some chickens assist in the landscapingchores. The world＇s ugliest lawnfeatures many sparse （稀疏的） yellow grass，driedupplants， and several holes causedby the local wildlife.

Kathleen stated that her previous opinion of bandicoots has changed from“wildlife of mass destruction” to thinkingof them as freedom fighters. The changecame with the realization that these littleanimals had freed her from having to mowagain. Her guiltfreeweekends can now beenjoyed without worry. That is probably agood thing.

The prize for this honor is an amazing，preownedTshirtthat proclaims heras “Proud Owner of the World＇s UgliestLawn”. Yes， you did read that correctly.They don＇t even spring for a new Tshirt.But Kathleen is pleased with her selectionand wears her used shirt proudly！ You canread more about the competition on theofficial website. Stop watering now if youintend to enter the contest！

Reading Check

What is the purpose of the“ World＇s Ugliest Lawn” contest？

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