新概念英语3--（一天学一篇）---课1

ltlong52010

$课文1  逃遁的美洲狮
- h& f4 h: l# ]1. Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America.
        美洲狮是一种体形似猫的大动物，产于美洲。
. J. }# ], @7 Q% q" b4 o1 y2. When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London, they were not taken seriously.
        当伦敦动物园接到报告说，在伦敦以南45英里处发现一只美洲狮时，这些报告并没有受到重视。
) L- n$ \! S! L2 ?% u3. However, as the evidence began to accumulate, experts from the Zoo felt obliged to investigate,
! [; c1 f1 v. I+ W5 V* [; Q        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.
- p+ H! N+ t1 m0 w8 N* ?        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。
8 L' l$ a/ \' o8 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，
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。
7. The search proved difficult,
  n/ ?; z! B7 G- Z/ B& v; A; B; `        事实上搜寻工作很困难，
% k/ @# z% G" p8. for the puma was often observed at one place in the morning and at another place twenty miles away in the evening.
' h( G" a9 @2 I' p4 R        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，
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。
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。
$ V5 G6 s2 A  e8 a12. 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?
5 F- Y; f7 d5 Y- [+ j, Y9 E" \13. As no pumas had been reported missing from any zoo in the country,
- Y4 v! ]- X" n        由于全国动物园没有一家报告丢了美洲狮，
" Y7 r% Y, T% J1 Q14. this one must have been in the possession of a private collector and somehow managed to escape.
4 k# k; h, ~: H9 B        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。
6 P* b' j. h2 m7 s3 K) ?: [5 ^3 o15. The hunt went on for several weeks, but the puma was not caught.
5 i' \$ ^' D2 W2 }# B1 T        搜寻工作进行了好几个星期，但始终未能逮住那只美洲狮。
& u9 s7 _# Y4 O( Y& C1 L+ n7 C16. It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.
, y3 C  ?! }& a) f) r$ ]        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。