新概念英语3--（一天学一篇）---课1

ltlong52010

$课文1  逃遁的美洲狮
/ X9 ^0 P' [& y7 Z. O1. Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America.
        美洲狮是一种体形似猫的大动物，产于美洲。
2. When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been spotted forty-five miles south of London, they were not taken seriously.
. A# G8 Q% J; D! p# A9 Q7 S% B3 u% P        当伦敦动物园接到报告说，在伦敦以南45英里处发现一只美洲狮时，这些报告并没有受到重视。
3. However, as the evidence began to accumulate, experts from the Zoo felt obliged to investigate,
) }; D: s- _$ g7 x        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，
3 E6 [5 L4 }; i4. 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 L+ z' M% w5 _6 ^2 O( k! Z5. 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.
- C& J" P" y2 _5 T        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，
; _' `& E9 L" f& t1 j' J6. 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。
  L/ \* u8 B7 `. F! l7. The search proved difficult,
        事实上搜寻工作很困难，
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。
; F3 O* I. I. V9. Wherever it went, it left behind it a trail of dead deer and small animals like rabbits.
) U2 L9 t# Y; Q2 m  k8 b% e        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。
+ @! i, ?; ?& [7 Z; L/ c12. 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?
- B2 D# j0 ]( g13. As no pumas had been reported missing from any zoo in the country,
+ `2 T0 R" p0 f. S/ ~) ^        由于全国动物园没有一家报告丢了美洲狮，
: w! T/ e# p5 }& b! K8 p14. 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.
5 I# }) O  Q$ S& B, B, o        搜寻工作进行了好几个星期，但始终未能逮住那只美洲狮。
3 [" [1 F1 l* P6 ^; U16. It is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.
' k' ], s0 H0 \' |( k9 z- |        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。