新概念英语3--（一天学一篇）---课1

ltlong52010

$课文1  逃遁的美洲狮
7 a0 Y6 a0 }+ B1 w- K1. Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America.
; Q5 _. U+ `0 M7 G) y7 J        美洲狮是一种体形似猫的大动物，产于美洲。
$ w0 m, P9 T7 W" l# I0 n2. When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London, they were not taken seriously.
; n! V4 ~( Y" c; O        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。
' T9 P1 T0 q  @- t8 Y8 L, o9 }7 l9 a3. However, as the evidence began to accumulate, experts from the Zoo felt obliged to investigate,
) G; n* u6 Z( C" y# P        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，
. P. m: U! P" T& L3 N4. for the descriptions given by people who claimed to have seen the puma were extraordinarily similar.
6 [3 ?0 j* M2 l1 w0 a% |        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. 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.
2 y4 x3 I" P: o" H) H. |        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.
        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。
9 ?% F1 k5 _$ z) d5 V# M# K  ^7. The search proved difficult,
        事实上搜寻工作很困难，
7 I5 |& B+ i5 ~8. 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。
* p1 N, w0 X8 v' L9. Wherever it went, it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits.
7 f0 d& f1 _  d8 _        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，
* ^( ^6 F! i4 R10. Paw prints were seen in a number of places and puma fur was found clinging to bushes.
: \- n/ [! L+ q8 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。
8 @) f" ^% e6 M0 s& j12. The experts were now fully convinced that the animal was a puma, but where had it come from?
, ?5 `& s* a" o1 f        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?
: N9 _: ?. P$ C" q13. 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，
! a& V% T' f) I# l14. this one must have been in the possession of a private collector and somehow managed to escape.
* r1 w( N- J6 q  T0 _0 [1 o        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.
        搜寻工作进行了好几个星期，但始终未能逮住那只美洲狮。
2 a" h7 q# m4 R8 i16. It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.
/ ]8 R8 Q' p* M/ Y- s- g0 `        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。