新概念英语3--（一天学一篇）---课1

ltlong52010

$课文1  逃遁的美洲狮
1. 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.
        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。
$ b; b3 U9 }( p( J3. However, as the evidence began to accumulate, experts from the Zoo felt obliged to investigate,
$ Y$ a  b. t) A  D6 ~4 @2 m" v        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，
, r' b9 D/ V" w3 Z4. for the descriptions given by people who claimed to have seen the puma were extraordinarily similar.
% _7 D; f3 q% [3 H6 q( y* H5 w        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。
9 j" B0 b  ~0 X9 g) {% a5. 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.
        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，
0 q: B: U6 R" {" u+ r8 D: N# p# M6. It immediately ran away when she saw it, and experts confirmed that a puma will not attack a human being unless it is cornered.
6 G( w2 w# M" a/ \( z! C        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。
- `+ g" N+ S8 W6 M( I7. The search proved difficult,
! E" ?& T5 K2 O( X        事实上搜寻工作很困难，
. \6 @" I% ?! R* x2 ?; K8. for the puma was often observed at one place in the morning and at another place twenty miles away in the evening.
( }( y2 i' H7 M6 N" B  {+ l7 X) ?9 S        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。
9. 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，
+ Q' f6 \8 w. H$ ?" b' \  \0 j10. Paw prints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes.
0 }8 ~% A3 Z- U' p" K* P        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。
' p8 W2 U1 T. r- c! D. C4 u12. The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma, but where had it come from?
        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?
( @+ S# _; Y  f2 y: h) m$ W- u13. As no pumas had been reported missing from any zoo in the country,
        由于全国动物园没有一家报告丢了美洲狮，
) x, Q0 ?  d2 A# g+ m& U14. 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.
' ?: N0 u6 C. n+ Q2 H& _        搜寻工作进行了好几个星期，但始终未能逮住那只美洲狮。
( s% `$ i) e: e4 A16. It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.
% a# `! }' F/ }& l        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。