新概念英语3--（一天学一篇）---课1

ltlong52010

$课文1  逃遁的美洲狮
+ u+ L4 a/ k( v1 i; I8 a1. Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America.
        美洲狮是一种体形似猫的大动物，产于美洲。
2. When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London, they were not taken seriously.
4 Q2 c+ G+ ?: s+ Y" j        当伦敦动物园接到报告说，在伦敦以南45英里处发现一只美洲狮时，这些报告并没有受到重视。
8 z4 K  k6 d; E. V" _1 F3. However, as the evidence began to accumulate, experts from the Zoo felt obliged to investigate,
% T4 L$ m9 `' M( o1 f        可是，随着证据越来越多，动物园的专家们感到有必要进行一番调查，
" ~$ u1 R* @7 l8 v4. for the descriptions given by people who claimed to have seen the puma were extraordinarily similar.
4 o: I4 {& P; u  e        因为凡是声称见到过美洲狮的人们所描述的情况竟是出奇地相似。
% e: Q( i: L9 J0 A, I5 ^! S+ n) i5. The hunt for the puma began in a small village where a woman picking blackberries saw 'a large cat' only five yards away from her.
/ O  I: ~$ K; h, y        搜寻美洲狮的工作是从一座小村庄开始的。那里的一位妇女在采摘黑莓时的看见“一只大猫”，离她仅5码远，
6. It immediately ran away when she saw it, and experts confirmed that a puma will not attack a human being unless it is cornered.
2 s" m: c9 C2 p! p; T        她刚看见它，它就立刻逃走了。专家证实，美洲狮非被逼得走投无路，是决不会伤人的。
7. The search proved difficult,
        事实上搜寻工作很困难，
  |. E. K7 B, U% x6 b5 U* k) l- m4 r8. for the puma was often observed at one place in the morning and at another place twenty miles away in the evening.
6 @6 [8 v7 U" W  Y8 b( |/ ^        因为常常是早晨在甲地发现那只美洲狮，晚上却在20英里外的乙地发现它的踪迹。
+ x# _- `6 N/ m. [% T) H9. Wherever it went, it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits.
        无论它走哪儿，一路上总会留下一串死鹿及死兔子之类的小动物，
. @3 W7 B! b4 u" r8 u4 I10. Paw prints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes.
. T+ g, J6 h* A. m        在许多地方看见爪印，灌木丛中发现了粘在上面的美洲狮毛。
11. Several people complained of 'cat-like noises' at night and a businessman on a fishing trip saw the puma up a tree.
        有人抱怨说夜里听见“像猫一样的叫声”；一位商人去钓鱼，看见那只美洲狮在树上。
  F, P% W: D7 h7 {3 A12. The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma, but where had it come from?
6 B1 M) F& u9 Y8 m) N* k: y        专家们如今已经完全肯定那只动物就是美洲狮，但它是从哪儿来的呢?
13. As no pumas had been reported missing from any zoo in the country,
" W' a* V6 n9 s% j- F" m        由于全国动物园没有一家报告丢了美洲狮，
! }& ]: t" [0 v) _14. this one must have been in the possession of a private collector and somehow managed to escape.
        因此那只美洲狮一定是某位私人收藏豢养的，不知怎么设法逃出来了。
15. The hunt went on for several weeks, but the puma was not caught.
2 V) F) S; X; s+ }        搜寻工作进行了好几个星期，但始终未能逮住那只美洲狮。
16. It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.
) @* X2 y, x- c7 N# I7 c        想到在宁静的乡村里有一头危险的野兽继续逍遥流窜，真令人担心。