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.
- v, _' u. s  j( s        美洲狮是一种体形似猫的大动物，产于美洲。
+ I0 P. M4 X& o/ c2. When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London, they were not taken seriously.
$ k3 {, L) U" B3 _4 G        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。
" V$ Y0 O) Z( \( g2 `, G3. However, as the evidence began to accumulate, experts from the Zoo felt obliged to investigate,
; l: {& a- O$ C7 {3 b4 |8 k        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，
4. for the descriptions given by people who claimed to have seen the puma were extraordinarily similar.
        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。
+ ^5 k! t/ L" s4 r% 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.
        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，
) a0 o1 _0 N$ a; |: p0 G7 l6. It immediately ran away when she saw it, and experts confirmed that a puma will not attack a human being unless it is cornered.
# t# b% C& j% A$ l2 p  p        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。
8 i! e- H# y( v7. The search proved difficult,
        事实上搜寻工作很困难，
9 ]% j8 {8 d/ L9 X$ `  N8. for the puma was often observed at one place in the morning and at another place twenty miles away in the evening.
        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。
8 m7 j" O1 [4 h0 v5 n* c9. Wherever it went, it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits.
6 j. Z& @3 f8 |* T        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，
10. Paw prints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes.
        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。
2 P9 x: r% P6 d7 m11. 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。
12. The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma, but where had it come from?
; v- H0 I' N6 Y7 p        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,
/ `! D7 E5 L$ W. ]        由于全国动物园没有一家报告丢了美洲狮，
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。
4 m+ J' I5 |6 f4 e+ W  P9 Y15. The hunt went on for several weeks, but the puma was not caught.
0 P% X, \9 l: D5 x4 M$ |, Y        搜寻工作进行了好几个星期，但始终未能逮住那只美洲狮。
6 l% O& H. }( Q7 k1 H. z2 k3 I* H" @16. It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.
        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。